stump

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the base part of a tree that remains standing after the tree has been felled
  2. noun the part of a limb or tooth that remains after the rest is removed
  3. noun (cricket) any of three upright wooden posts that form the wicket

Etymology

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. Cognate with Middle Dutch stomp (“stump”), Old High German stumph (“stump”) (German Stumpf), Old Norse stumpr (“stump”). More at stop.

In classic literature

Synonyms

tree stump

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