stagger
verbEtymology From Middle English stakeren, from Old Norse stakra (“to push, stagger”). Cognate with dialectal Danish stagre.
8 senses
- 1In standing or walking, to sway from one side to the…
- 2To cause to reel or totter.
- 3To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail.
- 4To begin to doubt and waver in purposes; to become less…
- 5To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to…
- 6To arrange (a series of parts) on each side of a median…
- 7To arrange similar objects such that each is ahead or…
- 8To schedule in intervals or at different times.
› To sway unsteadily, reel, or totter.
In standing or walking, to sway from one side to the other as if about to fall; to stand or walk unsteadily; to reel or totter.
- She began to stagger across the room.
- Deep was the wound; he staggered with the blow.1697, Virgil, “Palamon and Arcite”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
1 more example
- The burnt and bleeding man staggered to his feet, dazed and unbelieving, and asked the startled townspeople who came running whether his fireman and guard were safe. He was kept away from the smouldering crater where his engine had been, and taken to hospital.2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:
To cause to reel or totter.
- The powerful blow of his opponent's fist staggered the boxer.
- That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire / That staggers thus my person.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail.
- 1708, Joseph Addison, The Present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation
- The enemy staggers.
› Doubt, waver, be shocked.
To begin to doubt and waver in purposes; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate.
- He [Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 4:20:
To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make less steady or confident; to shock.
- He will stagger the committee when he presents his report.
- [W]hoſoever vvill be curious to read the future ſtory of this intricate VVarre (if it be poſsible to compile a ſtory of it) he vvill find himſelfe much ſtagger'd, and put to a kind of riddle; […]1644, James Howell, England’s Teares, for the Present Wars, […], London: […] Richard Heron, →OCLC, page 6:
2 more examples
- Grants to the house of Russell were so enormous, as not only to outrage economy, but even to stagger credibility.1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC:
- Unless it is intended to divert much of the Southern suburban traffic underground, the size of the structure needed to handle all the Southern Railway suburban, outer suburban, and main-line traffic in one station staggers the imagination.1943 September and October, “Post-War London Terminals”, in Railway Magazine, page 257:
› Have multiple groups doing the same thing in…
To arrange (a series of parts) on each side of a median line alternately, as the spokes of a wheel or the rivets of a boiler seam.
To arrange similar objects such that each is ahead or above and to one side of the next.
- We will stagger the starting positions for the race on the oval track.
To schedule in intervals or at different times.
- We will stagger the run so the faster runners can go first, then the joggers.
- The evening peak (5.30-5.45) is more concentrated than the morning (9–9.15), but it had not been intensified in the 12 months to last November; this is attributed by London Transport partly to efforts to persuade firms to stagger their hours.1962 September, “Talking of Trains: More commuters by rail”, in Modern Railways, page 154:
1 more example
- You'll leave at 5:00. Well, actually, they stagger our exits, so 5:15. But it won’t feel like it. Not to this version of you anyway.2022 February 18, Dan Erickson, “Good News About Hell”, in Severance, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Mark S. (Adam Scott):