Hypertext Webster Gateway: "stagger"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Stagger \Stag"ger\, v. t.
1. To cause to reel or totter.

That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire That
staggers thus my person. --Shak.

2. To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make
less steady or confident; to shock.

Whosoever will read the story of this war will find
himself much stagered. --Howell.

Grants to the house of Russell were so enormous, as
not only to outrage economy, but even to stagger
credibility. --Burke.

3. 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.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Stagger \Stag"ger\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Staggered}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Staggering}.] [OE. stakeren, Icel. stakra to push, to
stagger, fr. staka to punt, push, stagger; cf. OD. staggeren
to stagger. Cf. {Stake}, n.]
1. 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.

Deep was the wound; he staggered with the blow.
--Dryden.

2. To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail.
``The enemy staggers.'' --Addison.

3. 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. --Rom. iv. 20.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Stagger \Stag"ger\, n.
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. pl. (Far.) A disease of horses and other animals, attended
by reeling, unsteady gait or sudden falling; as, parasitic
staggers; appopletic or sleepy staggers.

3. pl. Bewilderment; perplexity. [R.] --Shak.

{Stomach staggers} (Far.), distention of the stomach with
food or gas, resulting in indigestion, frequently in
death.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

stagger
n : an unsteady uneven gait [syn: {lurch}, {stumble}]
v 1: walk as if unable to control one's movements [syn: {reel}, {keel},
{lurch}, {swag}, {careen}]
2: walk with great difficulty; as in snow or mud [syn: {flounder}]
3: astound or overwhelm; "These poor people are staggered by
the drain on their savings"
4: to arrange in a stack or pile; "stagger the chairs in the
lecture hall" [syn: {stack}, {distribute}]
5: move slowly and unsteadily; "The truck lurched down the
road" [syn: {lurch}]
6: astound or overwhelm, as with shock: "She was staggered with
bills after she tried to rebuild her house following the
earthquake"


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