A man about to stumble into the water
The concept of tripping comes from the Portuguese tropicar , which in turn is derived from trópico , a variant of trôpego . The term refers to causing a person to trip violently .
Examples of stumbling
For example: “The policeman ran and managed to trip the thief, who was left lying on the ground” , “A protester managed to avoid the security forces and managed to trip the president” , “The Uruguayan defender made the Russian forward trip and the referee did not hesitate to sanction the infraction” .
The notion, as can be seen, is used as a synonym for tripping or causing someone to fall . If an individual causes another person to trip, what this causes is for them to lose their balance and collapse.
Let's look at the meaning of each of the examples just given. In the first one we see that a policeman was chasing a criminal who was escaping at high speed, and the only way he managed to stop him was by lunging at him and causing him to stumble , in order to immobilize him until reinforcements arrived.
Next, we have the case of an individual who advances towards the president in order to trip him, and succeeds by avoiding being stopped in mid-air by the security forces. While the first example uses this action for the purpose of justice, the second is of a subversive nature. Finally, in sport, this is an infringement , which must be penalized .
Wobble
Trompicar can also refer to advancing in a staggering or unsteady manner : “After drinking his fourth beer, the man began to stumble around the bar” , “The Armenian boxer was stumbled by his opponent's blows, but was able to stay on his feet until the end of the round” , “I can walk slower or even stumble, but I will never stop” .
In this case, it is an intransitive verb , since it does not have to be accompanied by a direct object, as it does in the previous meaning. Let's see a brief explanation: if we say that a football player knocks down an opponent , the highlighted part is the direct object, because the verb falls on it and needs it to offer a complete and coherent meaning.
Note that the direct object can be a living being or a thing. When trompicar acts as an intransitive verb, however, it is not correct to add a complement, since the action falls on the subject. This can be seen more clearly if we pay attention to some of its synonyms, such as the aforementioned tambalearse : this verb has the same meaning but requires the reflexive form for its use.
So, while we say “the man stumbled” , we cannot say “he staggered” but rather “ he staggered” . In both the first and second examples, the characters stumble because of an external stimulus : one because he has drunk too much alcohol, and another because he has received too many blows in a boxing match. The last one, on the other hand, refers to stumbling as a synonym for “stumbling over an unexpected obstacle”.
Excessive alcohol makes us walk unsteadily
Figuratively speaking
The idea of stumbling can also be used symbolically. Let's suppose that pro-government deputies present a project and the opposition puts obstacles in the way so that the initiative does not prosper. It can be said, then, that they intend to stumbling the pro-government proposal.
A sports team that starts losing several games in a row, meanwhile, starts to collapse: it begins to stumble. Its progress is no longer solid or firm, and it falls back in the standings until it falls to the bottom. Precisely, this last verb ( to fall ) is the one that usually follows trompicar when the subject can no longer stand up, both figuratively and literally.