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stagger |
4 definitions found 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 1.6 [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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