1. Home
2. Idioms
3. stumble across

stumble across

---

---

stumble across someone or something

 and stumble (up)on someone or something; stumble into someone or something

to find someone or something, usually by accident. I stumbled across an interesting book yesterday when I was shopping. Guess who I stumbled into at the library yesterday? I got lucky and stumbled on the right answer.

See also: across, stumble

stumble across somebody/something

also stumble on somebody/something

to meet someone or find something unexpectedly Lee has stumbled across a plot to sell high-tech US weapons to international terrorists. Border Patrol agents stumbled on the drugs when they were on a routine patrol.

See also: across, stumble

stumble across

Also, stumble on. Find by chance, discover or meet with unexpectedly. For example, When we were hiking up the mountain we stumbled across a few abandoned shepherd's huts , or At the flea market Alfred stumbled on a quite valuable old lithograph. This idiom uses stumble in the sense of "accidentally trip." [Mid-1500s]

See also: across, stumble

stumble across

v.

To come upon someone or something accidentally or unexpectedly: I had given up finding my keys when I stumbled across them lying under the dresser. On my way to work this morning, I stumbled across an old friend I hadn't seen in years.

See also: across, stumble