v.
- walk or move unsteadily, as if about to fall.
▸ continue in existence or operation uncertainly:
the treasury staggered from one crisis to the next.
- astonish or shock.
- spread over a period of time.
- arrange (objects or parts) so that they are not in line.
- archaic waver or hesitate.
n.
- an act of staggering.
-
(the stagger)
the staggered arrangement of the runners on a track at the start of a race.
Derivative
- staggerer n.
- staggering n. & adj.
- staggeringly adv.
Etymology
ME: alt. of dial. stacker, from ON stakra, frequentative of staka ‘push, stagger’.