MEANING
1. To walk or move with difficulty in maintaining balance.
2. To shock or astonish someone so strongly that a response is difficult.
3. To arrange events or objects at different times or positions rather than together.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- stagger backward
- stagger under a load
On the page
He staggered backward as the door flew open.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- stagger
- Past tense
- staggered
- Past participle
- staggered
- Present participle
- staggering
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- stagger
- Present continuous
- am/is/are staggering
- Present perfect
- have/has staggered
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been staggering
- Past
- staggered
- Past continuous
- was/were staggering
- Past perfect
- had staggered
- Past perfect continuous
- had been staggering
- Future
- will stagger
- Future continuous
- will be staggering
- Future perfect
- will have staggered
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been staggering
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: stagger; staggers; staggered; staggered; staggering Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: staggers.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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