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

Question

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

Answer

"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.

Answer

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.