STAGGERING • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Staggering

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/stˈægərɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Stagger v. t.

1.

To cause to reel or totter. "That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire That staggers thus my person."

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." "Grants to the house of Russell were so enormous, as not only to outrage economy, but even to stagger credibility."

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.

Stagger v. i. (past & past part. staggered; pres. part. staggering)

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."

2.

To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail. "The enemy staggers."

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."

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Etymology of 'Staggering'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Staggering" Quotes from Famous Books

... not going?" he said, staggering to his feet and attempting to hold her. "You're not going till the roshy morning sun ...

— The Sorcery Club • Elliott O'Donnell

... at the same time to disengage himself from it. The other woman had not risen. She seemed, on the contrary, to cling closer to the divan, hiding her face in the cushions. Her hair was also loose; it was admirably fair. General D'Hubert recognised it with staggering emotion. Mlle. de Valmassigue! Adele! ...

— The Point Of Honor - A Military Tale • Joseph Conrad

... the dangers of the Church (in spite of the staggering events which have lately taken place), I have not yet entirely lost my confidence in the power of common sense, and I believe the Church to be in no danger at all; but if it is, that danger is not from the Catholics, but from ...

— Peter Plymley's Letters and Selected Essays • Sydney Smith

... while the wind was up, and spent night after night out of doors. My friend Father Peter Flannery, who is my chief authority for this history, told me that often, riding on his sick calls in stormy weather, he met Andy staggering along the rough roads. ...

— The Idler, Volume III., Issue XIII., February 1893 - An Illustrated Monthly. Edited By Jerome K. Jerome & Robert Barr • Various

... new-fangled stuff is this you've got?" broke in a half-drunken creature, staggering up, and holding on to the bar-railing. "Let ...

— The Lights and Shadows of Real Life • T.S. Arthur

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