— staggerer , n.
/stag"euhr/ , v.i.
1. to walk, move, or stand unsteadily.
2. to falter or begin to give way, as in an argument or fight.
3. to waver or begin to doubt, as in purpose or opinion; hesitate: After staggering momentarily, he recognized that he had to make a decision.
v.t.
4. to cause to reel, totter, or become unsteady: This load would stagger an elephant.
5. to shock; render helpless with amazement or the like; astonish: The vastness of outer space staggers the mind.
6. to cause to waver or falter: The news staggered her belief in the triumph of justice.
7. to arrange in a zigzag order or manner on either side of a center: The captain staggered the troops along the road.
8. to arrange otherwise than at the same time, esp. in a series of alternating or continually overlapping intervals: They planned to stagger lunch hours so that the cafeteria would not be rushed.
9. Aeron. to arrange (the wings of a biplane or the like) so that the entering edge of an upper wing is either in advance of or behind that of a corresponding lower wing.
n.
10. the act of staggering; a reeling or tottering movement or motion.
11. a staggered order or arrangement.
12. Aeron.
a. a staggered arrangement of wings.
b. the amount of staggering.
13. staggers . ( used with a sing. v. ) Vet. Pathol.
a. Also called blind staggers . acute selenium poisoning of livestock characterized by a staggering gait usually followed by respiratory failure and death.
b. a condition of unknown cause, occurring in pregnant sheep, cattle, and other animals during or just following extended transport, characterized by a staggering gait and progressive paralysis.
[ 1520-30; earlier stacker to reel, ME stakeren stakra to reel, equiv. to stak ( a ) to stagger + -ra freq. suffix ]
Syn. 1. STAGGER, REEL, TOTTER suggest an unsteady manner of walking. To STAGGER is successively to lose and regain one's equilibrium and the ability to maintain one's direction: to stagger with exhaustion, a heavy load, or intoxication. To REEL is to sway dizzily and be in imminent danger of falling: to reel when faint with hunger. To TOTTER is to move in a shaky, uncertain, faltering manner and suggests the immediate likelihood of falling from weakness or feebleness: An old man tottered along with a cane. 3. vacillate. 5. astound, confound, dumfound. 7. alternate.