v. tr. stumped, stump·ing, stumps.
Informal. To baffle.
The
etymology of this word lies in the days of
American westward expansion. The
government would cut down trees to make roads. Being as
efficient as possible, they neglected to remove the stumps. In bad weather, when the rain would wash away the
dirt around the stumps, wagons often got a wheel stuck between two stumps,
immobilizing the wagon.