Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Stagger
Stag′ger
(-gẽr)
, Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Staggered
(-gẽrd)
; 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
, Noun.
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 purpose; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate.
He [Abraham]
staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief. Rom. iv. 20.
Stag′ger
,Verb.
T.
1.
To cause to reel or totter.
That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire
That
That
staggers
thus my person. Shakespeare
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
staggered
. 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
,Noun.
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 man2.
pl.
(Far.)
A disease of horses and other animals, attended by reeling, unsteady gait or sudden falling;
as, parasitic
staggers
; apopletic 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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Stagger
STAGGER
,Verb.
T.
1.
To reel; to vacillate; to move to one side and the other in standing or walking; not to stand or walk with steadiness. Deep was the wound; he staggerd with the blow.
2.
To fail; to cease to stand firm; to begin to give way.The enemy staggers.
3.
To hesitate; to begin to doubt and waver in purpose; to become less confident or determined.Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. Romans 4.