stumper
(ˈstʌmpə(r))
[f. stump v.1 + -er1.]
† 1. ‘A boaster or bragger’ (Bailey ed. 5, 1731).
2. One employed or skilled in stumping trees.
| 1828 P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 279 Two..Dublin thieves, who went out with me, are now..first-rate ‘fellers and stumpers’ in a good clearing gang. |
3. Cricket. One who stumps; a wicket-keeper.
| 1776 in Nyren Yng. Cricketer's Tutor (1833) 67, I had almost forgot..Little George, the long stop, and Tom Sueter, the stumper. 1833 in P. Norman Scores & Annals W. Kent Cricket Club (1897) 73 Herbert..is such a wonderous stumper. 1901 Daily Mail 19 Sept. 3/4 There are few better amateur stumpers than the Hampshire captain. |
4. A horse which walks with a stiff leg.
| 1874 Punch 11 Apr. 155/1 If ever I saw a stumper with my own very dear eyes, that stumper is before me. |
5. Something (e.g. a question, a task imposed, a reply) that ‘stumps’ one; a poser.
| 1807 Salmagundi (N.Y.) 20 Mar. 121 They happened to run their heads full butt against a new reading. Now this was a stumper. 1833 [Seba Smith] Lett. J. Downing xxii. (1835) 126, I'm afraid we'll git a stumper..one of these days, that will nock us all into kindlin-wood. 1855 J. Lawrence in Bosw. Smith Life Ld. Lawrence (1883) I. 470 One query in writing is often a stumper for a month or two. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 187 The American..speaks of a conclusive argument, or a difficult problem: ‘That is a stumper.’ 1899 E. Phillpotts Human Boy vi. 137 We always noticed, at arithmetic times, that Browne, if he got a stumper, would put up the lid of his private desk and hide behind it. |
6. U.S. A stump speaker.
| 1863 Boston Sunday Herald 30 Aug. 2/7 An Ohio stumper, while making a speech, exclaimed [etc.]. 1884 Chr. Commw. 6 Nov. 49/2 Oratorical stumpers are deceiving and bewitching the nation into the destruction of true polity. 1901 Scotsman 11 Nov. 9/2 The great majority of the Protestant..preachers are stumpers..for the Republican party. |
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Add: 7. A device, attached to a tractor or similar vehicle, for uprooting tree stumps; a stump-grubber or stumping machine.
| 1950 Engineering 20 Jan. 84/3 A temporary publication, which describes..land-clearing equipment, has reached us... The booklet..deals with four items, namely, a ‘treedozer’ and stumper, a root cutter, a towed root rake and a front-mounted root rake. 1960 C. Culpin Farm Machinery (ed. 6) xv. 377 Other useful tools include stumpers and root rakes. These are usually designed for mounting on a hydraulic bulldozer frame; and in the hands of a skilful operator they can push out trees and bushes with a minimum of soil adhering to the roots. 1967 Gloss. Highway Engin. Terms (B.S.I.) 32 Stumper, an attachment, specially designed to assist in the removal of tree roots, mounted on the front of a tractor. |