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staggering

 - 5 dictionary results

stag⋅ger⋅ing

  [stag-uh-ring]
Use staggering in a Sentence
–adjective
tending to stagger or overwhelm: a staggering amount of money required in the initial investment.
Origin:
1555–65; stagger + -ing 2

Related forms:
stag⋅ger⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

stag⋅ger

  [stag-er]
–verb (used without object)
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.
–verb (used with object)
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. Aeronautics. 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.
–noun
10. the act of staggering; a reeling or tottering movement or motion.
11. a staggered order or arrangement.
12. Aeronautics.
a. a staggered arrangement of wings.
b. the amount of staggering.
13. staggers. (used with a singular verb) Veterinary Pathology.
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.
Origin:
1520–30; earlier stacker to reel, ME stakeren < ON stakra to reel, equiv. to stak(a) to stagger + -ra freq. suffix

Related forms:
stag⋅ger⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To staggering
stag·ger   (stāg'ər)   
v.   stag·gered, stag·ger·ing, stag·gers

v.   intr.

  1. To move or stand unsteadily, as if under a great weight; totter.

  2. To begin to lose confidence or strength of purpose; waver.

v.   tr.

  1. To cause to totter, sway, or reel: The blow staggered him.

    1. To overwhelm with emotion or astonishment.

    2. To cause to waver or lose confidence.

  3. To place on or as if on alternating sides of a center line; set in a zigzag row or rows: theater seats that were staggered for clear viewing.

  4. To arrange in alternating or overlapping time periods: staggered the nurses' shifts.

  5. To arrange (the wings of a biplane) so that the leading edge of one wing is either ahead of or behind the leading edge of the other wing.

  6. Sports To arrange (the start of a race) with the starting point in the outside lanes progressively closer to the finish line so as to neutralize the advantage of competing in the shorter inside lanes.

n.  

  1. A tottering, swaying, or reeling motion.

  2. A staggered pattern, arrangement, or order.

  3. staggers (used with a sing. verb) Any of various diseases of the nervous system in animals, especially horses, cattle, or other domestic animals, characterized by a lack of coordination in moving, a staggering gait, and frequent falling. Also called blind staggers.


[Alteration of Middle English stakeren, from Old Norse stakra, frequentative of staka, to push.]
stag'ger·er n., stag'ger·y adj.
stag·ger·ing   (stāg'ər-ĭng)   
adj.  Causing great astonishment, amazement, or dismay; overwhelming: a staggering achievement; a staggering defeat.
stag'ger·ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

stagger 
1530, 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." Trans. sense of "bewilder, amaze" first recorded 1556; that of "arrange in a zig-zag pattern" is from 1856. Staggering "amazing" is attested from 1565.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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