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• n  (sports) dropping the ball
• v  feel about uncertainly or blindly
• v  make one's way clumsily or blindly
  He fumbled towards the door
• v  handle clumsily
• v  make a mess of, destroy or ruin
• v  drop or juggle or fail to play cleanly a grounder
  fumble a grounder

• It is perfectly possible, for example, to outguess the defense and complete a long pass, but then suffer a fumble.
• With time running out, global negotiators still seem far apart, and there's a growing fear that the world could fumble the opportunity.
• With a little over a minute left in an AFC playoff game, Indianapolis Colts defensive back Nick Harper, his team down three points, picked up a fumble by the Pittsburgh Steelers .

• muff
• grope
• blunder
• botch
• bodge
• bumble
• botch up
• blow
• flub
• screw up
• ball up
• spoil
• muck up
• bungle
• fluff
• bollix
• bollix up
• bollocks
• bollocks up
• bobble
• mishandle
• louse up
• foul up
• mess up
• fuck up

News & Articles

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• Miss Utah's fumble during Miss USA makes national headlines
  Miss Connecticut may have won the title, but the headlines from the Miss USA contest are all about Miss Utah's fumble.
  June 18, 2013 - ABC 4 Salt Lake City
• Miss Utah USA takes 2nd stab at pageant question
  LAS VEGAS — Miss Utah USA is taking another stab at the pageant question that brought her Internet infamy. Marissa Powell appeared Tuesday morning on NBC's "The Today Show" to talk about her fumble during Sunday's Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas. She told host Matt Lauer that she was confused by the three-part question, which mentioned that more women are becoming primary breadwinners and that ...
  June 18, 2013 - Boston Herald
• Notre Dame Football: Analyzing What Makes Stephon Tuitt so Dangerous
  Forget Manti Te'o , it was defensive end Stephon Tuitt who had the bigger impact on the Notre Dame defense last season. He produced 45 tackles, 11 sacks, nine quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery. He wasn't nominated for the Heisman, but Tuitt's relentless pressure helped others around him shine. Tuitt is dangerous and the second best defensive end in the country behind Jadeveon Clowney. He ...
  June 18, 2013 - Bleacher Report

Quotes

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• Darren Sproles in San Francisco Chronicle
  Right after that fumble, it was still kind of in my mind,Sproles said. "I wanted that TD back to make up for the fumble."
• Ed Hochuli in Sportsnet.ca
  The ruling on the field was that it was an incomplete pass,Hochuli told a pool reporter. "We went to replay. It should have been ruled a fumble. By rule - by the instant replay rules - on that particular play where there's a pass/fumble, a...
• Joel Siegel in FOXNews
  The appeal of Matthew McConaughey has long evaded me both as a pinup and as an actor,Siegel said in his review of 2006's "We Are Marshall." "His constant ticks, bad hair and strained syntax as a coach fumble what should have been the...