stagger

stagger
[[t]stæ̱gə(r)[/t]]
staggers, staggering, staggered
1) VERB If you stagger, you walk very unsteadily, for example because you are ill or drunk.

[V adv/prep] He lost his balance, staggered back against the rail and toppled over...

He was staggering and had to lean on the bar.

2) VERB If you say that someone or something staggers on, you mean that it is only just succeeds in continuing.

[V adv/prep] Truman allowed him to stagger on for nearly another two years.

[V adv/prep] ...a government that staggered from crisis to crisis.

3) VERB If something staggers you, it surprises you very much.

[V n] The whole thing staggers me.

Derived words:
staggered ADJ-GRADED v-link ADJ

I was simply staggered by the heat of the Argentinian high-summer.

4) VERB To stagger things such as people's holidays or hours of work means to arrange them so that they do not all happen at the same time.

[V n] During the past few years the government has staggered the summer vacation periods for students.

5) See also staggering

English dictionary. 2008.

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Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Stagger — Stag ger ( g[ e]r), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Staggered} ( g[ e]rd); 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • stagger — [stag′ər] vi. [ME stakeren < ON stakra, to totter, intens. of staka, to push (for IE base see STAKE): akin to & prob. infl. in form by MDu staggeren] 1. to move unsteadily, as though about to collapse; totter, sway, or reel, as from a blow,… …   English World dictionary

  • stagger — (v.) 1520s, altered from stakeren (c.1300), from O.N. stakra or O.Dan. stagra, both to push, stagger. Cognate with Du. staggelen to stagger, Ger. staggeln to stammer. Transitive sense of bewilder, amaze first recorded 1550s; that of arrange in a… …   Etymology dictionary

  • 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. [1913 Webster] 2. pl. (Far.) A disease of horses and other… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Stagger — Stag ger, v. t. 1. To cause to reel or totter. [1913 Webster] That hand shall burn in never quenching fire That staggers thus my person. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make less steady or confident;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • stagger — [v1] walk falteringly alternate, careen, dither, falter, halt, hesitate, lurch, overlap, pitch, reel, shake, stammer, step, sway, swing, teeter, titubate, topple, totter, vacillate, waver, wheel, whiffle, wobble, zigzag; concept 151 stagger [v2]… …   New thesaurus

  • stagger — index overcome (overwhelm), vacillate Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • stagger — vb *reel, whirl, totter Analogous words: sway, waver, fluctuate (see SWING): *stumble, lurch, blunder, flounder …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • stagger — ► VERB 1) walk or move unsteadily, as if about to fall. 2) astonish. 3) spread over a period of time. 4) arrange (objects or parts) so that they are not in line. ► NOUN ▪ an act of staggering or a staggered arrangement. ORIGIN Old Norse …   English terms dictionary

  • stagger — v. 1) (D; intr.) to stagger from; into (to stagger into a room) 2) (D; intr.) to stagger out of (to stagger out of a building) 3) (R) it staggered me to learn of his defection 4) (misc.) to stagger to one s feet; to stagger under a heavy burden * …   Combinatory dictionary

  • stagger — The schedule of months in which quarterly returns for VAT and Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) are due. Traders registered for VAT and IPT are generally required to submit returns every quarter. For administrative purposes, the dates on which returns… …   Financial and business terms

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