fumble

2 syllables

Quick answer

As a verb, fumble means handle nervously or awkwardly. As a noun, it means a ball etc. that has been dropped by accident.

Meanings of fumble

14 meanings

To handle nervously or awkwardly.
“Waiting for the interview, he fumbled with his tie.”
“He fumbled the key into the lock.”
To grope awkwardly in trying to find something
“He fumbled for his keys.”
“He fumbled his way to the light-switch.”
To blunder uncertainly.
“He fumbled through his prepared speech.”
To grope about in perplexity; to seek awkwardly.
“to fumble for an excuse”
sportsTo drop a ball or a baton etc. by accident.
To handle much; to play childishly; to turn over and over.
Feel about uncertainly or blindly
“She groped for her glasses in the darkness of the bedroom”
Similar: grope
Make one's way clumsily or blindly
“He fumbled towards the door”
Similar: blunder
Make a mess of, destroy or ruin
“I botched the dinner and we had to eat out”
“the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement”
Similar: botch, bodge, bumble, botch up, muff, blow
Drop or juggle or fail to play cleanly a grounder
“fumble a grounder”

Older and rare meanings (1)

sportsamerican footballcanadian footballA ball etc. that has been dropped by accident.
UKA dessert similar to a cross between a fool and a crumble.
(sports) dropping the ball
Similar: muff

Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).