stagger.
An unsteady movement of the body in walking or standing as if one were about to fall; a reeling motion.
Meaning & usage
An unsteady movement of the body in walking or standing as if one were about to fall; a reeling motion.
the stagger of a drunken man
A disease of horses and other animals, attended by reeling, unsteady gait or sudden falling.
parasitic staggers
apoplectic or sleepy staggers
Bewilderment; perplexity.
The spacing out of various actions over time.
The difference in circumference between the left and right tires on a racing vehicle. It is used on oval tracks to make the car turn better in the corners.
The horizontal positioning of a biplane, triplane, or multiplane's wings in relation to one another.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English stakeren, from Old Norse stakra (“to push, stagger”). Cognate with dialectal Danish stagre.
To sway unsteadily, reel, or totter. In standing or walking, to sway from one side to the other as if about to fall; to stand or walk unsteadily; to reel or totter.
She began to stagger across the room.
To sway unsteadily, reel, or totter. To cause to reel or totter.
The powerful blow of his opponent's fist staggered the boxer.
To sway unsteadily, reel, or totter. To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail.
Doubt, waver, be shocked. To begin to doubt and waver in purposes; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate.
Doubt, waver, be shocked. To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make less steady or confident; to shock.
He will stagger the committee when he presents his report.
Have multiple groups doing the same thing in a uniform fashion, but starting at different, evenly spaced, times or places (attested from 1856). 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.
Have multiple groups doing the same thing in a uniform fashion, but starting at different, evenly spaced, times or places (attested from 1856). To arrange similar objects such that each is ahead or above and to one side of the next.
We will stagger the starting positions for the race on the oval track.
Have multiple groups doing the same thing in a uniform fashion, but starting at different, evenly spaced, times or places (attested from 1856). To schedule in intervals or at different times.
We will stagger the run so the faster runners can go first, then the joggers.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English stakeren, from Old Norse stakra (“to push, stagger”). Cognate with dialectal Danish stagre.
One who attends a stag night.
Where this word comes from
From stag + -er.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.