Blun"der (&?;), v. i. [imp. & p.
p. Blundered (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n.
Blundering.] [OE. blunderen, blondren, to stir,
confuse, blunder; perh. allied to blend to mix, to confound by
mixture.] 1. To make a gross error or mistake; as, to
blunder in writing or preparing a medical prescription.
Swift.
2. To move in an awkward, clumsy manner; to
flounder and stumble.
I was never distinguished for address, and have often even
blundered in making my bow.
Goldsmith.
Yet knows not how to find the uncertain place,
And blunders on, and staggers every pace.
Dryden.
To blunder on. (a) To continue
blundering. (b) To find or reach as if by an
accident involving more or less stupidity, -- applied to something
desirable; as, to blunder on a useful discovery.
Blun"der, v. t. 1. To
cause to blunder. [Obs.] "To blunder an adversary."
Ditton.
2. To do or treat in a blundering manner; to
confuse.
He blunders and confounds all these together.
Stillingfleet.
Blun"der, n. 1.
Confusion; disturbance. [Obs.]
2. A gross error or mistake, resulting from
carelessness, stupidity, or culpable ignorance.
Syn. -- Blunder, Error, Mistake,
Bull. An error is a departure or deviation from that which
is right or correct; as, an error of the press; an error of
judgment. A mistake is the interchange or taking of one thing for
another, through haste, inadvertence, etc.; as, a careless mistake.
A blunder is a mistake or error of a gross kind. It supposes a
person to flounder on in his course, from carelessness, ignorance, or
stupidity. A bull is a verbal blunder containing a laughable
incongruity of ideas.
