Dialectal or obsolete term meaning to fumble or handle awkwardly; to move in a confused or clumsy manner (archaic).
Possibly related to 'fumble' through dialectal variation, or from Middle English 'fomelen,' with unclear ultimate origins, but clearly part of Germanic word-family describing awkward movement.
English has dozens of near-synonyms for 'fumble'—fummel, bumble, fumble, foozle—each slightly different in region or era, showing how people everywhere needed words for being clumsy.
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