- To take the stump
- Stump Stump, n. [OE. stumpe, stompe; akin to D. stomp, G.
stumpf, Icel. stumpr, Dan. & Sw. stump, and perhaps also to
E. stamp.]
1. The part of a tree or plant remaining in the earth after
the stem or trunk is cut off; the stub.
[1913 Webster]
2. The part of a limb or other body remaining after a part is amputated or destroyed; a fixed or rooted remnant; a stub; as, the stump of a leg, a finger, a tooth, or a broom. [1913 Webster]
3. pl. The legs; as, to stir one's stumps. [Slang] [1913 Webster]
4. (Cricket) One of the three pointed rods stuck in the ground to form a wicket and support the bails. [1913 Webster]
5. A short, thick roll of leather or paper, cut to a point, or any similar implement, used to rub down the lines of a crayon or pencil drawing, in shading it, or for shading drawings by producing tints and gradations from crayon, etc., in powder. [1913 Webster]
6. 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; a fence; also, a pin or projection in a lock to form a guide for a movable piece. [1913 Webster]
{Leg stump} (Cricket), the stump nearest to the batsman.
{Off stump} (Cricket), the stump farthest from the batsman.
{Stump tracery} (Arch.), a term used to describe late German Gothic tracery, in which the molded bar seems to pass through itself in its convolutions, and is then cut off short, so that a section of the molding is seen at the end of each similar stump.
{To go on the stump}, or {To take the stump}, to engage in making public addresses for electioneering purposes; -- a phrase derived from the practice of using a stump for a speaker's platform in newly-settled districts. Hence also the phrases stump orator, stump speaker, stump speech, stump oratory, etc. [Colloq. U.S.]
{on the stump} campaigning for public office; running for election to office. [1913 Webster +PJC]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
