staggers
Definition
Noun 1. A disease affecting the nervous system: A specific disease, primarily of livestock such as horses and cattle, that affects the central nervous system. Its key characteristic is a severe lack of coordination. 2. The symptom of unsteady movement: The condition of walking or moving with a reeling, unsteady, and swaying motion, as if about to fall.
Usage
- Noun (Medical/Veterinary): Used to name the specific disease.
- The veterinarian diagnosed the cow with staggers.
- Outbreaks of staggers can be linked to certain toxic plants.
- Noun (Descriptive): Used to describe the unsteady gait itself.
- The poison caused a violent staggers in the animal.
- He walked with the staggers of a very ill man.
Advanced Usage
- The term is often used in a veterinary or agricultural context. In general human medicine, similar symptoms are more commonly described as "ataxia" or "loss of coordination."
- Informally, "the staggers" can be used hyperbolically to describe extreme dizziness or unsteadiness in a person, often due to shock, illness, or intoxication.
- The shocking news gave me the staggers.
Variants and Related Words
- Stagger (verb): To walk or move unsteadily, as if about to fall.
- The exhausted hiker staggered into camp.
- Staggering (adjective): 1. Deeply shocking or astonishing. 2. Walking unsteadily.
- The cost was staggering. (Astonishing)
- A staggering drunk. (Unsteady)
Synonyms
- Noun (for the symptom): Reeling, tottering, lurching, unsteadiness, ataxia.
- Noun (for the disease): Cerebellar ataxia, blind staggers (a specific form).
Related Phrases
- To have the staggers: To be suffering from this condition or symptom.
- That horse looks like it has the staggers; call the vet.
Noun
-
a disease of the central nervous system affecting especially horses and cattle; characterized by an unsteady swaying gait and frequent falling
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