stumble on

phrasal verb·1 sense·particle on

Usefulness

Meanings

1

Discover something by chance

Why “on”? A person finds someone or something by chance.

He stumbled on a rare coin.
He discovered a rare coin by chance.
While looking for the station, Mia stumbled on a street market.
Mia found a street market by chance while looking for the station.

Don't confuse with

stumble onstumble across

Stumble on means discover something by chance. Stumble across means find something by chance.

Test yourself

He stumbled on a rare coin. What does it mean?

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