stagger
verb/ˈstæɡə(r)/
/ˈstæɡər/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they stagger | /ˈstæɡə(r)/ /ˈstæɡər/ |
| he / she / it staggers | /ˈstæɡəz/ /ˈstæɡərz/ |
| past simple staggered | /ˈstæɡəd/ /ˈstæɡərd/ |
| past participle staggered | /ˈstæɡəd/ /ˈstæɡərd/ |
| -ing form staggering | /ˈstæɡərɪŋ/ /ˈstæɡərɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] to walk with weak unsteady steps, as if you are about to fall synonym totter
- (+ adv./prep.) The injured woman staggered to her feet.
- He staggered home, drunk.
- We seem to stagger from one crisis to the next.
- (figurative) The company is staggering under the weight of a £10m debt.
- stagger something I managed to stagger the last few steps.
Extra Examples- She staggered blindly off into the darkness.
- She staggered to her feet and tottered unsteadily across the room.
- He was staggering, as if he was drunk.
- I managed to stagger to my feet.
- She staggered over to him, swaying slightly.
- The injured woman staggered to the side of the road.
- The man staggered around the square before collapsing.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- almost
- a little
- slightly
- …
- from
- into
- out of
- …
- stagger to your feet
Definitions on the go
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- [transitive] to shock or surprise somebody very much synonym amaze
- stagger somebody Her remarks staggered me.
- The inspectors were staggered at the level of incompetence among senior staff.
- it staggers somebody that… It staggers me that the government is doing nothing about it.
- [transitive] stagger something to arrange for events that would normally happen at the same time to start or happen at different times
- There were so many runners that they had to stagger the start.
Word Originlate Middle English (as a verb): alteration of dialect stacker, from Old Norse stakra, frequentative of staka ‘push, stagger’.
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stagger