Stump Speech Comes From Speaking on a Tree Stump
A stump is the base of a felled tree. American political campaigning takes its vocabulary from it.
A stump is the base of a tree left after felling, and by extension any remaining part. American politics built a whole vocabulary on it: frontier candidates stood on tree stumps to address a crowd, so a *stump speech* is a standard campaign address and *to stump the country* means to tour giving them. The words are still standard in American reporting. To *stump* someone means to baffle them, and in cricket to stump a batter is to break the wicket while they are out of their ground.
- A felled tree's base. *A tree stump.*
- A remaining part. *The stump of a candle.*
- To baffle. *The question stumped him.*
- Stump speech — a campaign address. *A stump speech.*
- Middle Low German — *stump*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | stump | A stump. |
| Plural | stumps | Stumps. |
| Verb | stump | It stumped me. |
| Adjective | stumpy | Stumpy. |
| Cricket | stumps | The stumps. |
- The field was full of stumps.Forestry.
- The question stumped everyone.Baffle.
- He gave the same stump speech.Politics.
Stump in cricket
- The stumps — three upright posts forming the wicket
- Bails — the two small pieces resting on top
- To stump — the keeper breaks the wicket while the batter is out of the crease
- Stumps — also the call ending a day's play
- Drawing stumps — packing up at the close of play
Middle Low German or Middle Dutch *stump*, of Germanic origin, related to German *Stumpf*.
Where does stump speech come from?
From American frontier campaigning, where candidates addressed crowds standing on tree stumps.
Why does stump mean to baffle?
Probably from the difficulty of ploughing land full of stumps, where progress was constantly blocked.