stagger

plural staggers

1. An unsteady movement of the body in walking or standing as if one were about to fall; a reeling motion.

   the stagger of a drunken man

   3 more examples

   7 October 2012, Paolo Bandini in The Guardian, Denver Broncos 21 New England Patriots 31 - as it happened Put down the rosary beads folks, I believe hell may just have frozen over. Peyton Manning drops back, sees nothing open and runs for a first down. If you can call that running. More like the stagger of a wounded rhino. Did the job, though

   Afy slowly gathered in the sense of the words. She gasped twice, as if her breath had gone, and then, with a stagger and a shiver, fell heavily to the ground.

   1861, Ellen Wood, chapter 39, in East Lynne

   And when old Fezziwig and Mrs. Fezziwig had gone all through the dance; advance and retire; both hands to your partner, bow and courtesy, corkscrew, thread the needle, and back again to your place; Fezziwig "cut"—cut so deftly that he appeared to wink with his legs, and came upon his feet again without a stagger.

   1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the page number)”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC

2. biologyA disease of horses and other animals, attended by reeling, unsteady gait or sudden falling.

   parasitic staggers

   1 more example

   apoplectic or sleepy staggers

3. Bewilderment; perplexity.
4. The spacing out of various actions over time.

   19 April 2016, Rachel Roddy in The Guardian, Rachel Roddy’s Roman spring vegetable stew recipe I don’t include cured pork, although it is very nice, and rather than putting everything in the pan at once I prefer a stagger of ingredients, which ensures each one gets the right amount of time.

5. hobbiesThe difference in circumference between the left and right tires on a racing vehicle. It is used on oval tracks to make the car turn better in the corners.
6. aeronauticsThe horizontal positioning of a biplane, triplane, or multiplane's wings in relation to one another.

present singular third person staggers · participle present staggering · participle past staggered · past staggered

1. To sway unsteadily, reel, or totter.
   1. intransitiveIn 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.

      2 more examples

      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

      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

   2. transitiveTo cause to reel or totter.

      The powerful blow of his opponent's fist staggered the boxer.

      1 more example

      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]

   3. intransitiveTo cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail.

      The enemy staggers.

      1 more example

      1708, Joseph Addison, The Present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation

2. Doubt, waver, be shocked.
   1. intransitiveTo 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

   2. transitiveTo 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.

      3 more examples

      [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

      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

3. Have multiple groups doing the same thing in a uniform fashion, but starting at different, evenly spaced, times or places (attested from 1856).
   1. transitiveTo 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.
   2. transitiveTo 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.

   3. transitiveTo schedule in intervals or at different times.

      We will stagger the run so the faster runners can go first, then the joggers.

      2 more examples

      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

      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)

plural staggers

1. UKOne who attends a stag night.

   Tallinn no longer takes pride in the title of 'favourite destination of British staggers'.

   2013, Phil Hubbard, Cities and Sexualities, page 144