Definition of Stagger

1. Noun. An unsteady uneven gait.

Exact synonyms: Lurch, Stumble
Generic synonyms: Gait
Derivative terms: Lurch, Stumble

2. Verb. Walk as if unable to control one's movements. "The drunken man staggered into the room"
Exact synonyms: Careen, Keel, Lurch, Reel, Swag
Generic synonyms: Walk
Derivative terms: Careen, Lurch, Reeler, Staggerer

3. Verb. Walk with great difficulty. "The children stagger to the playground"; "He staggered along in the heavy snow"
Exact synonyms: Flounder
Generic synonyms: Walk

4. Verb. To arrange in a systematic order. "Stagger the chairs in the lecture hall"
Exact synonyms: Distribute
Generic synonyms: Arrange, Set Up

5. Verb. Astound or overwhelm, as with shock. "She was staggered with bills after she tried to rebuild her house following the earthquake"

Definition of Stagger

1. v. i. To move to one side and the other, as if about to fall, in standing or walking; not to stand or walk with steadiness; to sway; to reel or totter.

2. v. t. To cause to reel or totter.

3. n. An unsteady movement of the body in walking or standing, as if one were about to fall; a reeling motion; vertigo; -- often in the plural; as, the stagger of a drunken man.

Definition of Stagger

1. Noun. An unsteady movement of the body in walking or standing, as if one were about to fall; a reeling motion; vertigo; -- often in the plural; as, the stagger of a drunken man. ¹

2. Noun. A disease of horses and other animals, attended by reeling, unsteady gait or sudden falling; as, parasitic staggers; apoplectic or sleepy staggers. ¹

3. Noun. bewilderment; perplexity. ¹

4. Verb. (intransitive) 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. ¹

5. Verb. (transitive) To cause to reel or totter. ¹

6. Verb. (intransitive) To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail. ¹

7. Verb. (intransitive) To begin to doubt and waver in purposes; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate. ¹

8. Verb. (transitive) To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make less steady or confident; to shock. ¹

9. Verb. (transitive) 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. ¹

10. Verb. (transitive) To arrange similar objects such that each is ahead or above and to one side of the next. ¹

11. Verb. (transitive) To schedule in intervals. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Stagger

1. to walk or stand unsteadily [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Stagger

1. 1. An unsteady movement of the body in walking or standing, as if one were about to fall; a reeling motion; vertigo; often in the plural; as, the stagger of a drunken man. 2. A disease of horses and other animals, attended by reeling, unsteady gait or sudden falling; as, parasitic staggers; appopletic or sleepy staggers. 3. Bewilderment; perplexity. Stomach staggers, distention of the stomach with food or gas, resulting in indigestion, frequently in death. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Stagger

stagestruck
stagestruckness
stagette
stagettes
stagewear
stagewide
stagey
stagflation
stagflationary
stagflations
staggard
staggards
staggart
staggarts
stagged
stagger (current term)
stagger bush
stagger head
staggerbush
staggerbushes
staggered
staggered board of directors
staggered head
staggerer
staggerers
staggering
staggeringly
staggers
staggerwort
staggery

Literary usage of Stagger

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Dictionary of English Etymology by Hensleigh Wedgwood (1865)
"To stammer is used in the N. of E. and Scotland in the sense of stumble or stagger. Fr. chanceler, to stagger, also to stammer.—Cot. ..."

2. Parts of the body in older Germanic and Scandinavian by Torild Washington Arnoldson (1916)
"NE. dial. rail reel, stagger; creep, crawl about, walk slowly or feebly ('dialect form of reel'—Wright), NE. reel turn, wind; stagger, incline the body from ..."

3. The People's Bible: Discourses Upon Holy Scripture by Joseph Parker (1889)
"Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: put thine hand round about me, then I shall no longer stagger like a drunken man. What is my hope? ..."

4. Applied Aerodynamics by Leonard Bairstow (1920)
"Changes ol stagger of a Triplane.—The series of experiments relating to the changes ... The gap to chord ratio was unity, and the angles of stagger -f 30°, ..."

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