stump
/stʌmp/noun, verb
stump is spelled S-T-U-M-P: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,005th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, stump means “The remains of something that has been cut off; especially the remains of a tree, the remains of a limb” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of stump is stumps.
How many letters and syllables are in stump?
| Letters | 5: S-T-U-M-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.8 times per million words; the 16,005th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is stump?
Stump appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,005th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce stump?
- US /stʌmp/
- /stʊmp/
- Australia /stɐmp/
Stump has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-stump.ogg, En-au-stump.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with stump?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as stump from its last stressed vowel (/ʌmp/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of stump
- stumps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- stumping participle, present
- stumped participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does stump mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The remains of something that has been cut off; especially the remains of a tree, the remains of a limb.
- 2
The place or occasion at which a campaign takes place; the husting.
- 3
A place or occasion at which a person harangues or otherwise addresses a group in a manner suggesting political oration.
- 4
One of three small wooden posts which together with the bails make the wicket and that the fielding team attempt to hit with the ball.
- 5
An artists’ drawing tool made of rolled paper used to smudge or blend marks made with charcoal, Conté crayon, pencil or other drawing media.
- 6
A wooden or concrete pole used to support a house.
- 7
slangA leg.
to stir one's stumps
- 8
A pin in a tumbler lock which forms an obstruction to throwing the bolt except when the gates of the tumblers are properly arranged, as by the key.
verb
- 1
informalTo stop, confuse, or puzzle.
- 2
informalTo baffle; to make unable to find an answer to a question or problem.
This last question has me stumped.
- 3
To campaign.
He’s been stumping for that reform for months.
- 4
UScolloquialTo travel over (a state, a district, etc.) giving speeches for electioneering purposes.
- 5
To get a batsman out stumped.
- 6
To bowl down the stumps of (a wicket).
- 7
To walk heavily or clumsily, plod, trudge.
- 8
To reduce to a stump; to truncate or cut off a part of.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Stump in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | souche, moignon , estompe |
| German | Stumpf, Stubben , Estompe , ratlos sein, verblüfft sein, mit seiner Weisheit am Ende sein |
| Portuguese | toco, cotoco , esfuminho |
| Spanish | tocón, muñón, raíz, punta final, cabo, raigón |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does stump come from?
From Middle English stumpe, stompe (“stump”), from or akin to Middle Low German stump (“stump”) or Middle Dutch stomp, from Old Saxon or Old Dutch *stump, from Proto-West Germanic *stump, from Proto-Germanic *stumpaz (“stump, blunt, part cut off”). Displaced native Old English stofn.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).