fumble

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To touch or handle nervously or idly: fumble with a necktie.
2. v. To grope awkwardly to find or to accomplish something: fumble for a key.
3. v. To proceed awkwardly and uncertainly; blunder: fumble through a speech.
4. v. Football To drop a ball that is in play.
5. v. Baseball To mishandle a ground ball.
6. v. To touch or handle clumsily or idly: "fumbled the receiver into its cradle” ( Howard Kaplan).
7. v. To make a mess of; bungle. See Synonyms at botch.
8. v. To feel or make (one's way) awkwardly.
9. v. Football To drop (a ball) while in play.
10. v. Baseball To mishandle (a ground ball).
11. n. The act or an instance of fumbling.
12. n. Sports A ball that has been fumbled.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To feel or grope about blindly or clumsily; hence, to make awkward attempts; seek or search for something awkwardly.
2. To stutter; stammer; hesitate in speech; mumble.
3. To find by groping; secure or ascertain by feeling about blindly or clumsily.
4. Specifically In base-ball, to stop or catch, as the ball, in such a clumsy manner that an opportunity is lost to put out an opponent.
5. To manage awkwardly; crowd or tumble together; jumble.
6. n. The act of groping; awkward attempt; aimless search.
7. n. In base-ball, foot-ball, and other games, an act of fumbling.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive, intransitive To idly touch or nervously handle
2. v. transitive, intransitive To grope awkwardly in trying to find something
3. v. intransitive To blunder uncertainly
4. v. transitive, intransitive, sports To drop a ball or a baton etc.
5. n. sports A ball etc. that has been dropped

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To feel or grope about; to make awkward attempts to do or find something.
2. v. To grope about in perplexity; to seek awkwardly.
3. v. To handle much; to play childishly; to turn over and over.
4. v. To handle or manage awkwardly; to crowd or tumble together.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. make a mess of, destroy or ruin
2. v. handle clumsily
3. n. (sports) dropping the ball
4. v. make one's way clumsily or blindly
5. v. drop or juggle or fail to play cleanly a grounder
6. v. feel about uncertainly or blindly