A stump is an old tree trunk that's been cut down and left behind.
When we say "stump", we often mean the remains of a felled tree. Imagine walking through a forest after a logging company has passed through - you might see lots of stumps lying on the ground. But the word can also be used in different contexts, like if someone is having trouble getting an idea or understanding something, they might say "I'm stuck, I don't know what to do" and that's like being left with a stump where their thought process should be working. In sports, like baseball for example, if a batter hits the ball so hard it gets stuck in the ground, the umpire will call "foul ball", but if it just stays there, still connected to the bat, and can't be easily retrieved, that's called being stuck on the stump.
How common is "stump"?
Word stump is considered uncommon in modern English. It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.
Definitions
noun
The remains of something that has been cut off; especially the remains of a tree, the remains of a limb.
The place or occasion at which a campaign takes place; the husting.
A place or occasion at which a person harangues or otherwise addresses a group in a manner suggesting political oration.
One of three small wooden posts which together with the bails make the wicket and that the fielding team attempt to hit with the ball.
(drawing) An artists’ drawing tool made of rolled paper used to smudge or blend marks made with charcoal, Conté crayon, pencil or other drawing media.
A wooden or concrete pole used to support a house.
A leg.
Example: to stir one's stumps
A pin in a tumbler lock which forms an obstruction to throwing the bolt except when the gates of the tumblers are properly arranged, as by the key.
A pin or projection in a lock to form a guide for a movable piece.
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verb
To stop, confuse, or puzzle.
To baffle; to make unable to find an answer to a question or problem.
Example: This last question has me stumped.
To campaign.
Example: He’s been stumping for that reform for months.
To travel over (a state, a district, etc.) giving speeches for electioneering purposes.
(of a wicket keeper) To get a batsman out stumped.
To bowl down the stumps of (a wicket).
To walk heavily or clumsily, plod, trudge.
To reduce to a stump; to truncate or cut off a part of.
To strike unexpectedly; to stub, as the toe against something fixed.
