| 释义 |
▪ I. stagger, n.1|ˈstægə(r)|
[f. stagger v.]
1. a. An act of staggering; a tottering or reeling motion of the body as if about to fall, as through feebleness, tripping, giddiness or intoxication.
1600Rowlands Lett. Humours Blood ii. 8 Thus doth Sir Launcelot in his drunken stagger, Sweare, curse, & raile, threaten, protest, and swagger. 1615T. Adams Sacrif. Thankf. 26 Their trepidations are more shaking then cold Ague-fittes; their staggers worse then a Drunkards. 1816J. Scott Vis. Paris Pref. (ed. 5) 38 This throne has tumbled down like rotten wood under her stagger and fall. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy v, Making a sloping stagger towards the wall, [he] contrived by its support to scramble his way to the door. 1862Sala Ship-Chandler iv. 72 The individual..advanced with a motion that alternated between a reel and a stagger, far more resembling that of a drunken man than of a labouring ship.
transf.1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. iv, He hobbles too much.—'Tis call'd your court-staggers, sir.
b. fig. (Cf. stagger v. 2.)
1601Shakes. All's Well ii. iii. 170, I will throw thee from my care for euer Into the staggers, and the carelesse lapse Of youth and ignorance. 1642D. Rogers Naaman 133 The ignorance of this causes the soule to bee in as deep a stagger after Christ is revealed, as it was before. 1782Paine Let. Abbé Raynal (1791) 55 Without shewing the least stagger in their fortitude. 1869J. Eadie Galat. 70 The unbelief ascribed to Peter and Thomas was a momentary stagger.
2. a. pl. (const. as sing.) Used as a name for various diseases affecting domestic animals, of which a staggering gait is a symptom. Also with various defining words, indicating the characteristics or the supposed cause of the disease, e.g. blind staggers, grass staggers, mad staggers, sleepy staggers, stomach staggers. Cf. staver n.
The staggers in sheep is caused by the presence of a hydatid (Cœnurus, the larva of a tapeworm) in the brain.
1577Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. 134 If he [a bullock] haue the staggers, he wyl looke very red about the eyes. 1596L. Mascall Bk. Cattell, Hogges 277 For the staggars in a hog. 1628Wither Brit. Rememb. viii. 820 Some sheep..get the staggers; some the scab. 1667Pepys Diary 18 Aug., One of our coach-horses fell sick of the staggers, so as he was ready to fall down. a1722Lisle Husb. (1757) 413 The long-legged hogs, as it were double-jointed at the knee, are of a breed subject to the staggers. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 279 A sort of Frenzy, resembling the Mad-staggers. 1753Bartlet Gentl. Farriery ix. 77 Farriers generally include all distempers of the head under two general denominations, viz. Staggers, and Convulsions. 1831Youatt Horse vi. (1847) 113 The attack is usually sudden—the horse is dull, lethargic, and almost as comatose as in stomach-staggers. 1843Lefevre Life Trav. Phys. II. i. xv. 72 Three of them [horses] were seized with the staggers, and..fell down dead. 1847W. C. L. Martin Ox 130/2 Inflammation of the brain, phrensy, mad staggers or sough (phrenitis), and apoplexy. 1849D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855) 41 A correspondent in the London Agricultural Gazette..admits, that,..he had ‘never brought up but two to be a'most hens’, and that they took the megrims (staggers,) and died. 1858J. Hogg Microsc. ii. iii. (ed. 3) 441 If a lamb is the subject of a feeding experiment with Tænia serrata..within a fortnight symptoms of a disease known as ‘staggers’ are manifested. 1860E. Mayhew Horse Doctor 7 Sleepy staggers. 1868Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 41 Blind staggers has been somewhat fatal in the south and west. 1883W. Robertson Equine Med. 382 Grass staggers. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 1106 The allied organism Cœnurus, which produces the ‘gid’ or ‘staggers’.
b. allusively. (to have) the staggers: inability to walk steadily.
1599Porter Angry Wom. Abington (Percy Soc.) 44 He [the butler] hath got a horses desease, namely the staggers. 1603Dekker Wonderf. Yr. Wks. (Grosart) I. 136 This setter-vp of Malt-men, being troubled with the staggers, fell into the selfe-same graue. 1608Heywood Lucrece i. i, Heere's a giddie world, it Reeles, it hath got the staggers. 1611Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 233. 1620 Hic Mulier (title-p.) Being a Medicine to cure the Coltish Disease of the Staggers in the Masculine-Feminines of our Times. 1621J. Taylor (Water P.) Motto A 4 b, Some with the staggers, cannot stand vpright. 1688Bunyan Disc. Build. Ho. God Wks. 1853 II. 582/1 Let them but feel your pulse, and they will tell You quickly whether you are sick or well. Have you the staggers? They can help you there. 1801Sir T. Munro in Gleig Life ix. (1849) 165 It has given me the staggers, for I often reel when I get up as if I were drunk. 1837Tennyson in Ld. Tennyson Mem. (1897) I. 159 A nervous, morbidly-irritable man..stark-spoiled with the staggers of a mis-managed imagination.
3. dial. and slang. (See quots.)
1865‘Mark Twain’ Screamers (1871) 149 He would make one more stagger at it anyway. 1880Antrim & Down Gloss., Stagger, an attempt. 1887I. K. Funk in N.Y. Voice (Extra) 1 Sept., It is a temperance party between drinks, and it makes a stagger at temperance reform. 1895Funk's Stand. Dict., Stagger (Telegrapher's Slang), a guess at an illegible word in a telegram. 1900A. McIlroy By Lone Craig-Linnie Burn iii. 30 They gave their consent to the marriage, remarking to the neighbours that ‘Oor Bessie's makin' a wunnerfu' stagger’.
4. A staggered arrangement or disposition; spec. in Aeronaut., an arrangement of the wings of a biplane such that the leading edge of the upper wing is in front of or behind that of the lower wing.
1915W. E. Dommett Aeroplanes & Airships 104 When the wings of a biplane are set with the upper one slightly ahead of, or abaft of the other, they are said to be staggered. The stagger is measured by the angle made by the line joining the leading edges with the normal to the fore and aft axis of the aeroplane. It is convenient to call the stagger positive if the upper wing is ahead of the lower. 1919H. Shaw Text-Bk. Aeronaut. iii. 58 The effect of positive stagger on a biplane is to cause the lower plane to work in a slight downdraught from the upper plane, and so decreases its angle of incidence, giving the machine greater stability. 1937Times 13 Nov. 13/5 All the footmarks lay on the same straight line with no ‘stagger’ right or left of it. 1950R. G. Batson Roads v. 83 A stagger interrupts the passage of traffic from one branch of the minor road to the other. 1957L. L. Beckford A.B.C. of Aeronaut. 95/2 When the upper wing is placed behind the arrangement is known as Back Stagger. 1972Times 14 Nov. 15/7 The method of arranging the ‘stagger’ was one of the matters on which Customs and Excise consulted a wide range of trade bodies. 1980M. Booth Bad Track i. 17 At the head of the small approach road was a T-junction... At a stagger from the slip-road was another, going down the other side to join the motorway.
5. attrib.
a. gen., as stagger-bush U.S., the shrub Andromeda mariana, supposed to give the staggers to sheep; stagger-grass, ‘the atamasco-lily, Zephyranthes Atamasco: so called as supposed to cause staggers in horses’ (Cent. Dict. 1891); stagger-juice slang, strong drink; stagger tuning Electronics, the tuning of different stages of an amplifier to slightly different frequencies so as to broaden the overall frequency response; so stagger-tuned a.; stagger-weed (see quot.); staggerwort, the ragwort, Senecio Jacobæa, supposed to cure staggers in horses.
1847Darlington Amer. Weeds (1860) 213 A[ndromeda] Mariana... *Stagger-bush... The farmers..allege that it is injurious to sheep, when the leaves are eaten by them,—producing a disease called the staggers.
1905Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 730/1 A liquor labelled Scotch whisky, but commonly known as ‘*stagger juice’. 1907A. Macdonald In Land of Pearl & Gold 22 Lor! Boss! if we didn't drink the stagger-juice no one would.
1947F. E. Terman Radio Engin. (ed. 3) vii. 360 The behavior of such *stagger-tuned pairs under conditions corresponding to maximal flatness..is of particular interest. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xiii. 57 The simple shunt-compensated stage has found extensive use in stagger-tuned pulse-amplifier applications.
1953Fowler & Lippert Television Fund. vi. 121 Some of the later-model TV receivers make use of a single tuned inductance between tube sections of the i-f amplifier and obtain the necessary bandwidth by means of *stagger-tuning. 1979G. M. Miller Handbk. Electronic Communication ix. 285 The problem here is..how to get a wide-enough bandwidth but still have relatively sharp falloff at the pass-hand edges. Most TV IF amps solve this problem through the use of stagger tuning.
1855Dunglison Med. Lex., *Staggerweed, Delphinium.
1597Gerarde Herbal ii. xxvi. 219 The countrey people do call it [Jacobea] *Stagger woort, and Stauerwoort, and also Ragwoorte. 1665Lovell Herbal (ed. 2) 415 Stagger wort or Stanner wort, see Rag wort.
b. That involves the implementation of a staggered arrangement, as stagger hours, stagger schedule, stagger plan. Cf. sense 9 b of the vb. orig. U.S.
1918Dial 2 Nov. 369/1 ‘Stagger’ hours have been instituted—whereby one department goes to its work a half hour earlier than another, thus relieving the congestion of the street cars. 1933Sun (Baltimore) 16 Aug. 4/2 The animals would be marketed..under a system of ‘stagger’ shipments to prevent swamping market and packing facilities. 1943Ibid. 16 Nov. 11/3 State liquor stores went on a new ‘stagger’ schedule of hours..with doors opening at 9 a.m. and closing at 3 p.m. 1947News Chron. 11 Apr. 4/6 (heading) Firms favour ‘stagger’ plan. 1960Wall St. Jrnl. 7 Apr. 8 The stagger system is election of directors in classes for various terms of office.
Add:[1.] c. A preliminary, unpolished rehearsal or run-through of a play, television programme, etc. Also stagger through. Theatr. and Broadcasting slang.
1964Sound & Vision Broadcasting Summer 31/2 The voice of the producer..requesting opening shots for a ‘stagger through’. 1972R. Tyrrell Work of Televison Journalist vii. 124 The first run-through of a programme is often referred to—advisedly—as a ‘stagger’... After the first stagger, there is a coffee break for the studio crew and an opportunity for the director to follow up some of his notes. 1975Time Out 7 Feb. 48/3 John McGrath's ‘The Fish in the Sea’..has qualities which even a stagger through twelve days before opening night in an upstairs pub room with half the cast going down with flu..can't obscure.
▪ II. † ˈstagger, n.2 dial. Obs.
[? Connected with stake n.1; but cf. staver.]
(See quot. 1879.)
1739Tull Horse-hoeing Husb. i. (1762) 5 note, This Witch-Elm is a very old decay'd Stump, which is here called a Staggar. 1793Bailiff's Diary 13 Dec. in Miss Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. 408 Began to repair our fences, which is much wanted. Bought a load of staggers from Nuttree Bank to put in barren gapes. 1879G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Staggers, strong, well-grown thorn-bushes, hollybushes, &c.,—cropped for hedgerow purposes—taken up by the roots and replanted, sometimes to make a new fence, but more frequently to fill up gaps in an old one.
▪ III. stagger, n.3
[f. stag n.1 + -er1.]
One who hunts stags; pl. a pack of staghounds.
1865Dublin Univ. Mag. II. 19 To wind up the season with a day or two after the ‘staggers’. 1894Sir J. D. Astley 50 Years Life I. 113 The ‘Surrey staggers’ always met within easy reach.
▪ IV. ˈstagger, n.4 slang.
[f. stag v.3 + -er1.]
1859Hotten's Slang Dict., Stagger, one who looks out, or watches.
▪ V. stagger, v.|ˈstægə(r)|
Also 6 stagar, 6–7 stager, staggar, (8 staggir).
[Altered form of stacker v. Cf. early mod.Flem. staggeren (Kilian), Du. staggelen to stagger, G. staggeln to stammer.]
I. Intransitive uses.
1. a. Of a person or animal: To sway involuntarily from side to side when trying to stand or walk erect; to totter or reel as if about to fall; to walk with a swaying movement of the body and unsteady and devious steps, as from weakness, giddiness, intoxication, or the carrying of a heavy burden. Often with adv. or phrase indicating the direction of movement.
In mod. use always implying more or less movement from the spot; formerly this notion was sometimes absent: cf. sense 3.
1530Palsgr. 732/1 Ar you nat a shamed to staggar thus as you go by the stretes. 1598R. Bernard tr. Terence, Eunuch. ii. iii. 133 He comes running to me..very crooked, staggering and stammering for age. 1600Fairfax Tasso xii. lxxx, Thither he staggred, reeling to and froe. 1611Bible Job xii. 25 Hee maketh them to stagger like a drunken man. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 282 A wounded and halfe-dead Souldier..comming staggering as it were to begge his life. 1621J. Taylor (Water P.) Praise of Beggery C 1 b, Drinke That neuer makes men stagger, reele and winke. c1730Ramsay Vision xix, Staggirrand, and swaggirrand, They stoyter hame to sleip. 1810Crabbe Borough i. 286 The tippling sailor, staggering home. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxv. 191 He..staggered like a drunken man, and fell upon the snow. 1886G. R. Sims Ring o' Bells Prol. 3 A young woman..staggered towards the landlady, and then fell down in a swoon.
b. said of the legs or feet.
1665Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xviii. (1848) 277 My Head began to grow giddy, and my Leggs to stagger towards the River. 1828Lytton Pelham lxv, His feet staggered as he approached us.
c. In figurative context.
1579J. Field tr. Calvin's 4 Serm. i. 10 b, For without this, man cannot come directly to God: but they stagger & reele, not knowing which way to turne themselues. 1598Florio Dict. Ep. Ded. 3, I haue seene the best, yea naturall Italians, not onely stagger, but euen sticke fast in the myre. 1652Bp. Hall Height Eloquence p. xix, Great minds in their declination stagger into Fabling. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. v. v, The thing which the King's Government did do was to stagger distractedly from contradiction to contradiction. 1860Emerson Cond. Life, Worship Wks. (Bohn) II. 397 The churches stagger backward to the mummeries of the dark ages. 1887L. J. Jennings Gladstone iii. 93 The ‘greatest of orators’ had once more staggered into a war which he was impotent to conduct.
d. As the result of a blow or encounter, or of carrying a heavy load. Const. under. lit. and fig.
1547Boorde Brev. Health ii. (1557) 6 b, Gyue that knaue or drabbe a phylyp with a club that they do stagger at it. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 49 b, The duke..with the but ende of the spere strake the Almayne that he staggared. 1682Bunyan Holy War 164 For the grace, the benefit..was sudden, glorious, and so big, that they were not able without staggering to stand up under it. 1707Addison Pres. State War ⁋14 The enemy staggers; if you follow your blow, he falls at your feet; but if you allow him respite, he will recover his strength. 1752Fielding Amelia 44 Without use and experience, the strongest minds and bodies both will stagger under a weight which habit might render easy and even contemptible. 1759Ann. Reg. 48/1 This stroke, under which he was yet staggering. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. lxxi. (1806) V. 299 The..King, who was already staggering with the violent shocks which he had received. 1823Scott Quentin D. x, The first impulse of his surprise was to free his harquebuss by a violent exertion, which made the King stagger backward into the hall. 1850R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (1902) 62/2 The eland staggered for a moment, and subsided in the dust. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola (1880) II. ii. ii. 25 He had staggered under the weight of the thrust. 1874L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. x. 368 The bearers stagger under the heavy coffin and cry for help. 1896Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign xii, Finding that their horses were but staggering on under them.
e. transf. Of a ship: To move unsteadily and with difficulty; esp. under a press of sail.
1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxv, With as much sail as she could stagger under. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xxiii. (1856) 184 We are staggering along under all sail. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Staggering under it, a ship's labouring under as much canvas as she can bear. 1872Blackie Lays Highl. 9 The wherry staggered through the fretted deep. 1890Conan Doyle White Company xvii, The cog, battered and torn and well-nigh water-logged, staggered in for this haven of refuge.
f. Of the senses: To become unsteady. rare.
1826Hood Fairy Tale 117 The change was quite amazing; It made her senses stagger for a minute. 1846Landor Imag. Conv., Galileo, Milton & Dominican (1891) IV. 384 My sight staggers; the walls shake; he must be—do angels ever come hither?
†g. To ‘stumble’ or blunder into (a place).
1803J. Bristed Pedestrian Tour II. 518 The lady soon gave us to understand, that we had staggered into a bagnio.
2. fig.
a. To begin to doubt or waver in an argument, opinion, or purpose; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate or waver at. Now rare.
1533More Answ. Poysoned Bk. iv. viii. Wks. 1112/1 Then the disciples and apostles..must nedes haue woondered, stonned, and staggered, and haue been more inquisitiue therin then they were. 1582N. T. (Rheims) Matt. xxi. 21 If you shal haue faith, and stagger not. 1593Bilson Govt. Christ's Ch. 96 They..caused the strong to stagger at the truth of Paules doctrine. 1628Prynne Cens. Cozens 40 Wee need not doubt nor stager at this Conclusion. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 158 Mahomet promised them his second glorious comming after a thousand yeares, which they seriously lately looking for, and seeing themselues guld by such credulity began to stagger. 1738J. Fisher Inestimable Value Div. Truth (1803) 46 They who once begin to stagger are at the next Door to Apostasy. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iv. i, They stagger at the Double Representation, at the Vote by Head. 1883J. Gilmour Mongols xvii. 202 A Buddhist..seems to stagger at the idea of a hell to the duration of which no period is assigned.
†b. const. in, about. Also with clause. Obs.
1555Bonner Homilies 62 No appearaunce of reason to y⊇ contrary thereof, shoulde cause vs once to doute or stagger in any part of the same. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 486 Of latter yeers there hath beene some strong opposition, and seeing that now at this day some doe incline, and others doe stagger therein, I [etc.]. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 169 Whether the Tirranny be in his place, Or in his Eminence that fills it vp I stagger in. 1606Wotton in Life & Lett. (1907) I. 353 A..letter..which I dare not adventure by the ordinary post; and I must confess I am at the present somewhat staggering whether I shall send it by an especial messenger. 1619Hieron Penance for Sin xii. Wks. II. 194 To stagger about either of which, is no little sinne. 1642D. Rogers Naaman 6, I stagger much about this opinion. 1648Gage West Ind. 1 The people should not stagger in any lawfull doubts. 1686tr. Chardin's Coronat. Solyman 100 They began to stagger in their Answers.
c. of purpose, opinion, faith, etc.
1617Moryson Itin. ii. 64 Seeing no reason, why the Counsels of the warre should stagger upon his wel or ill doing. 1675Machiavelli's Prince vi. (Rtldg.) 40 Their faith begins to stagger. 1800E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. IV. 204 Lady Bingfield's opinion staggered—she felt quite bewildered. 1813Shelley Q. Mab i. 267 At whose immensity Even soaring fancy staggers.
3. Of an army, line of battle, etc.: To waver, become unsteady, give way.
1544Betham Precepts War i. lxv. D iv b, To succour those companyes yt begynne to stagger and faynte. a1660Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) I. 155 Causinge the bould enemie to stager. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 568 The Chineses, our Guard on the Front,..who had talk'd so big the Day before, began to stagger. 1829[implied in staggered ppl. a.]
4. Of a material thing: To sway or rock from side to side; to shake, rock, or swing violently; to totter.
1530Palsgr. 731/2 This house staggareth with every wynde. 1611Bible Ps. xcix. 1 He sitteth betweene the Cherubims, let the earth be mooued [marg. Hebr. stagger]. 1633P. Fletcher Purple Isl. iv. vii, Her steddy race Staggers awhile, at length flies back apace. 1652Crashaw Carmen Deo Nostro Wks. (1904) 252 When starres themselves shall stagger. 1681Wittie Surv. Heavens 11 The Earth is so firmly establisht..in its proper place, that it cannot stagger. 1851Longfellow Golden Leg. i, Beneath me I can feel The great earth stagger and reel.
†5. To stammer or falter in speaking. (Cf. stacker v. 2.) Obs.
1565–98[see staggering vbl. n.]
II. Transitive uses.
6. a. To cause (a person or animal) to reel or totter, esp. from a blow.
1593Shakes. Rich. II, v. v. 110 That hand shall burne in neuer-quenching fire, That staggers thus my person. c1611Chapman Iliad v. 299 It staggerd him vpon his knees, and made th' Heroe stay His strooke-blind temples on his hand, his elbow on the earth. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xvi. x, Jones was a little staggered by the blow, which came somewhat unexpectedly. 1750Carte Hist. Eng. II. 474 Eustace de Ribaumont..staggered him twice with the force of his blows. 1836Marryat Japhet xlv, I received a blow on the head from behind, which staggered me. 1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting viii. 331 My second barrel staggered him, and in fifty yards he fell. 1872Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 530, I have stagger'd thy strong Gawain in a tilt For pastime. 1879Stevenson Trav. Cevennes (1886) 114 It was a furious windy morning..and I wandered until dinner..sorely staggered and beaten up by the gale.
b. transf. and fig.
1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. i, I could not thus run mad, As one confounded in a maze of mischiefe, Staggerd, starke feld with brusing stroke of chance. 1647Lilly Chr. Astrol. To Rdr. 1 That yeer which afflicts me will stagger a Monarch and Kingdome. a1711Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 327 Both with like sensual Pleasure eat their Fill, Intoxicating Mind, and staggering Will. 1822Shelley Tri. Life 197 Then like one who with the weight Of his own words is staggered, wearily He paused. 1872Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. lxxv. 6 That cup of spiced wine of vengeance, one draft of which shall stagger all his foes.
7. fig.
a. To bewilder, perplex, nonplus; to render helpless by a shock of amazement (or occas. horror). In pass., to be perplexed or astonished at.
1556J. Heywood Sp. & Flie lxi. 81 Spiders harts it so perst, That it stagard and stonide all that hole bend. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iv. 212 The question did at first so stagger me,..that [etc.]. 1653Ramesey Astrol. Restored 108 It hath staggered the learnedst Writers in Divinity. a1700Evelyn Diary 6 Dec. 1680, The consideration of this and some other circumstances began to stagger me. 1711Addison Spect. No. 117 ⁋8 Sir Roger was several times staggered with the Reports that had been brought him concerning this old Woman. 1737Fielding Hist. Reg. i. i, I am a little stagger'd at the name of your piece. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 38 This last argument staggered me. 1787F. Burney Diary 16 Feb., He was staggered by this question. 1815J. Cormack Abol. Fem. Infanticide Guzerat viii. 121 The first aspect of the difficulties..was such as might be allowed to stagger the stoutest heart. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. viii, ‘Well!’ said Mr. Boffin a little staggered. 1883Sir T. Martin Ld. Lyndhurst xi. 298 The Ministry were for the moment staggered by the magnitude of their defeat. 1913Sir T. Barlow in Times 7 Aug. 8/2 We are staggered by the..calculated audacity of our brethren when sinuses of the skull are drained, cerebral abscesses evacuated, [etc.].
b. To shake the stability of (a country, a condition of things).
1613–18Daniel Coll. Hist. Eng. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 198 The report of Roberts returning from the Holy warres..might be noysed abroad to stagger the State. 1656Heylin Two Journ. France 75 She will rather choose to leave her fine house uninhabited..then give the least opportunity to stagger her greatnesse. 1657in Burton's Diary (1828) II. 41 Nor would I have any man's estate to be staggered or shaken by it. 1769Robertson Chas. V, III. viii. 70 Such events..soon occurred, as staggered the credit which the Protestants had given to the Emperor's declarations. 1884N. Amer. Rev. Dec. 515 Then strikes and lock-outs occur, which stagger the prosperity, not of the business merely, but of the state. 1889Stevenson Edinburgh 19 A dash that staggered Scotland to the heart.
c. Phrase. to stagger belief: to be incredible.
1756Burke Vind. Nat. Soc. Wks. I. 30 Which shocks our humanity, and almost staggers our belief. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 758 A scene of barbarity..which shocks the human mind and almost staggers belief. 1802–12Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) V. 555 note, The technical system presents..enough to stagger belief. 1837Whittock Bk. Trades (1842) 409 (Soap Boiler) Such matters have been introduced to the Boilers as almost ‘staggered’ belief.
d. To shake, unsettle, cause to waver or falter (a person's faith, opinion, purpose, etc.).
1617Fletcher Valentinian iii. i, æcius. I have seen enough to stagger my obedience. 1659Rushw. Hist. Collect. I. 140 The notice of a sharp Petition against Popish Recusants..did a little stagger his Resolution. 1704Trapp Abra-Mule iii. i. 1194 Your good Opinion of my Truth was stagger'd E'er you knew all. 1732Berkeley Serm. S.P.G. Wks. III. 246 The prevailing torrent of Infidelity, which staggers the faith of some. 1823Scott Quentin D. xxi, His courage was not staggered, even for an instant. 1857Maurice Epist. St. John xiii. 204 Do not let this stagger your faith.
e. To cause (a person) to falter or waver (in his faith or purpose).
1627in Crt. & Times Chas. I (1848) I. 268 My Lord of Holland..hath been a little staggered in the resolution of his journey. 1645Chas. I in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 318 It nowais staggars me in that good opinion which I have ever had of you. 1667Pepys Diary 26 Mar., The Judge..did stagger us in our hopes, so as to make us despair of the success. 1709Addison Tatler No. 108 ⁋4 The son..began to establish a new religion in the family..; in which he succeeded so well, that he had..staggered his eldest sister. 1746Francis tr. Horace, Sat. ii. v. 128 Whom all the Suitors amorously strove, In vain, to stagger in her plighted Love. 1791‘Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. ix. (1809) 105, I am a good deal stagger'd in my belief, and dare not, at present, make public my opinion. 1825Scott Talism. xv, Richard..was once more staggered in his purpose by the dauntless determination of the criminal. 1848Gallenga Italy (1851) 271 The king and his advisers were not staggered in their warlike resolution. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 92 One of his parishioners who had been staggered by the arguments of Roman Catholic theologians.
† f. To cause to waver or fall from or into. Obs.
1658L. Womock Exam. Tilenus 14 And if they be not drunk with..strong drink, they think 'tis no matter though the spirit of pride and disobedience stagger them into any schisme or heresie. 1679Established Test 7 Many were recalled whom the fear of Persecution had staggered from the Romish Religion.
†g. To throw doubt upon (a doctrine). Obs.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. x. 42 He..staggereth the immortality of the soul. 1833Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Barrenness Mod. Art, The paintings..of a modern artist, have been urged as objections to the theory of our motto. They are of a character, we confess, to stagger it.
†h. To bring to nought, confound (plots, counsels). Obs.
1629N. Carpenter Achitophel ii. (1640) 69 They would have heard the Lord often threatening..to stagger the counsell of the wicked. 1683Lond. Gaz. 1856/5 Hereby the Machivilian contrivances of imbitter'd, envenom'd Mal-Contents..are Providentially detected, stagger'd, [etc.].
8. To cause to waver, throw into confusion (a line or body of troops).
1721De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 178 He broke through the first line, and staggered the second. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 262 This unexpected warm reception staggered a great many of my men. 1775Ann. Reg., Hist. Europe 134* The king's forces seem to have been unusually staggered in this attack. 1778Cook 3rd Voy. iv. iii. (1784) II. 331 At this they were so much staggered, that they plainly discovered their ignorance of the effect of fire-arms.
9. a. To arrange in zig-zag order, or in positions alternately on the one side and the other of a median line. (See also quot. 1902.) Also, to position (things) at successively greater distances from the straight line they would otherwise form.
1856Patent Office Specif. No. 1560 The other wheel on the shaft in question (staggered with the relation to the first wheel) closes a circuit through one of the two pairs of electro-magnets which work the indicator. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Stagger, to set spokes in a hub so that they are alternately on the respective sides of a median line, in order to give them a broader base, and a consequently greater stiffness to the wheel against lateral strain. 1902Sturgis Dict. Archit. III. 593 Stagger (v.), to arrange in alternate order... By extension, to dispose floors so that each one is not continuous throughout the building, but so that they are arranged in two or more vertical series, each with its own independent system of heights. 1913J. B. Bishop Panama Gateway v. vi. 381 The lamps are staggered so as to illuminate both lock chambers. 1916H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 63 By staggering the top surface forward..it is removed from the action of the lower surface and engages undisturbed air. 1937Memo. Lay-out & Constr. Roads (Min. of Transport) No. 483. 13 Where a minor road crosses a major road constructed with a single carriageway the minor road should be staggered, preferably to the left. 1959Listener 6 Aug. 208/2 Then the road engineers got to work and staggered the cross-roads.
b. To arrange (holidays, times, etc.) so that they do not coincide; to arrange (an event or action) so that its implementation is spread over a period of time, or so that it is performed by different persons at different times. orig. U.S.
1918Daily Chron. 23 Apr. 4/2 In order to maintain efficient service for industrial traffic, it is urged by the Tramways..Committee that factories and other places of business should ‘stagger’ their times of opening and closing. 1929Sun (Baltimore) 27 Sept. 12/3 The days of rest will be staggered, one-fifth of the workers presumably laying off each twenty-four hours. 1934Ibid. 3 Nov. 2/2 Omitting their national shows and staggering the introduction of new models. 1946in P. N. S. Mansergh Const. Rel. between Brit. & India (1979) VIII. 211 Though the departure of officers on proportionate pension could be ‘staggered’, the right to retire could not be taken away. 1951Engineering 7 Sept. 302/2 A scheme for staggering working hours, to ease the..load at..peak hours. 1962E. Godfrey Retail Selling & Organ. xvii. 172 Many firms have found it better to stagger stock-taking, so that all departments are not disrupted at the same time. 1978L. Davidson Chelsea Murders iii. xxi. 122 Lunch was being staggered, the six of them dashing out individually for a sandwich. |