The Collaborative International Dictionary
Stump \Stump\, n. [OE. stumpe, stompe; akin to D. stomp, G. stumpf, Icel. stumpr, Dan. & Sw. stump, and perhaps also to E. stamp.]
The part of a tree or plant remaining in the earth after the stem or trunk is cut off; the stub.
The part of a limb or other body remaining after a part is amputated or destroyed; a fixed or rooted remnant; a stub; as, the stump of a leg, a finger, a tooth, or a broom.
pl. The legs; as, to stir one's stumps. [Slang]
(Cricket) One of the three pointed rods stuck in the ground to form a wicket and support the bails.
A short, thick roll of leather or paper, cut to a point, or any similar implement, used to rub down the lines of a crayon or pencil drawing, in shading it, or for shading drawings by producing tints and gradations from crayon, etc., in powder.
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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 fence; also, a pin or projection in a lock to form a guide for a movable piece.
Leg stump (Cricket), the stump nearest to the batsman.
Off stump (Cricket), the stump farthest from the batsman.
Stump tracery (Arch.), a term used to describe late German Gothic tracery, in which the molded bar seems to pass through itself in its convolutions, and is then cut off short, so that a section of the molding is seen at the end of each similar stump.
To go on the stump, or To take the stump, to engage in making public addresses for electioneering purposes; -- a phrase derived from the practice of using a stump for a speaker's platform in newly-settled districts. Hence also the phrases stump orator, stump speaker, stump speech, stump oratory, etc. [Colloq. U.S.]
on the stump campaigning for public office; running for election to office.
Wiktionary
prep.phr. Campaigning for public office; hustings#Noun.
Usage examples of "on the stump".
I fell on my good leg and rolled sideways, conscious of a horrible jar on the stump of my left leg and hearing a thin scream that for a second I thought was myself screaming with pain.
Something had been smeared on the stump and there was no pain there anymore.
A wooden tray had been set on the stump, laden with an offering of dried figs, nuts, and a pungent cheese that made Ivar's headache worse.
Sunflash laid the newt carefully out on the stump and waited for it to recover, and when it stirred and opened one eye, he trapped it gently with a footpaw and lectured it.
Ben kept his place on the stump and tried to look as if he were enjoying himself.
Ada reached for the spirits bottle, Poured a little into her cupped hand and spread it on the stump.
He leaned his back against the weight of his pack where it rested upright on the stump and got his arms through the shoulder straps.
But at need, on the stump or in the middle of a fight, his voice swelled to carry as far as he wanted.
He laughed until he was weak from the exertion and was forced to sit down on the stump.
Grant sat on the stump, listened to the reports, kept his anger tight in a thick column of cigar smoke.
The Nemes-thing took tourniquet paste from the tube and smeared it on the stump of Aenea's little finger.
Spending less time than usual on the stump beside the front door, he drank only one cup of coffee and forewent his customary wood-chopping session.