stagger

/'stægə/
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stagger

A man staggers through the deep snow.

Definition

  1. Verb (intransitive):

    • To walk, move, or stand unsteadily, as if about to fall, often due to weakness, dizziness, or carrying a heavy load.
    • To proceed in a hesitant, faltering, or shocked manner.

  2. Verb (transitive):

    • To cause someone to walk or move unsteadily; to cause to reel or totter.
    • To astonish, deeply shock, or overwhelm someone.
    • To arrange events, objects, or timing so they do not occur simultaneously or are evenly spaced.

  3. Noun:

    • An unsteady, swaying, or reeling movement or gait.
Examples of Usage

  • Verb (intransitive):

    • The exhausted hiker began to stagger under the weight of his backpack.
    • He staggered out of the smoky building, coughing and disoriented.

  • Verb (transitive - meaning: to shock/overwhelm):

    • The sheer cost of the repairs staggered the homeowner.
    • I was staggered by the news of her sudden resignation.

  • Verb (transitive - meaning: to arrange alternately):

    • The manager decided to stagger the lunch breaks to keep the office staffed.
    • Stagger the tiles as you lay them for a stronger pattern.

  • Noun:

    • He walked with a pronounced stagger after the long run.
Advanced Usage

  • "to stagger under the weight of something": To struggle to carry or bear a heavy physical or metaphorical burden.

    • The small company staggered under the weight of its new debt.

  • "staggered by/at something": To be profoundly shocked or amazed by something.

    • The jury was staggered by the brutality of the evidence.
Variants and Related Words

  • Staggering (adjective): So shocking, astonishing, or large as to be overwhelming.

    • The project required a staggering amount of resources.

  • Staggeringly (adverb): In an astonishing or overwhelming manner.

    • The view from the summit was staggeringly beautiful.
Synonyms
  • Verb (to walk unsteadily): Totter, reel, lurch, wobble.
  • Verb (to astonish): Astound, amaze, stun, flabbergast.
  • Verb (to arrange alternately): Alternate, space out, offset.
Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "stagger" is not commonly used with particles to form standard phrasal verbs. Its meanings are typically conveyed through its direct use as a verb with prepositions like "under," "by," or "at.")

Related Idioms
  • In/into a stagger: Moving with an unsteady, reeling gait.
    • The boxer, dazed from the punch, fell into a stagger.
  • (Rare/Technical) Blind staggers: A term for a disease in animals causing loss of coordination. (This is a specialized compound term, not a general idiom).
stagger

A man staggers through the deep snow.

Noun
  1. an unsteady uneven gait
Verb
  1. astound or overwhelm, as with shock
    • She was staggered with bills after she tried to rebuild her house following the earthquake
  2. to arrange in a systematic order
    • stagger the chairs in the lecture hall
  3. walk with great difficulty
    • He staggered along in the heavy snow
  4. walk as if unable to control one's movements
    • The drunken man staggered into the room

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