Gabriel
stumble to a halt Hi, there I found there are expressions like "lurch to a halt/stop" screech to a halt"... Could I use "stumble to a halt/stop"? Like: Someone is walkinf/running along an uneven street and stumbles over something and stops all of a sudden. Could I say "Stumbled to a halt/stop"? Does it sound odd? Thank you for your help
May 26, 2016 4:23 AM
Answers · 2
"stumble to a halt" is okay. "stumble to a stop" is not okay because of the st...st... It just doesn't sound nice. Stumble is a rather specific verb though. It is used for losing your footing (people or animals' legs giving way). Stumble usually includes some of the meaning of coming to a stop so that it's worth mentioning if you continue after stumbling. "stumbled and fell" is the usual phrase.
May 26, 2016
You can search for the phrases ("stumble to a halt" / "stumble to a stop", with quotation marks) in a general online search, or even in news articles online. A quick check on Google News tells us that both phrases are acceptable.
May 26, 2016
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