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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
