1
- no obj. walk or move unsteadily, as if about to fall摇晃; 踉跄; 蹒跚：
he staggered to his feet, swaying a little.
他摇摇晃晃地站起来, 身体有点不稳。
1.1
- with obj. and adverbial of direction figurative continue in existence or operation uncertainly or precariously〈喻〉动荡不安 ：
the treasury staggered from one crisis to the next.
财政部勉强地应付着一个又一个的危机。
1.2
- archaic waver in purpose; hesitate〈古〉动摇; 犹豫。
1.3
- archaic (of a blow) cause (someone) to walk or move unsteadily, as if about to fall〈古〉（重击）使摇晃, 使踉跄; 使蹒跚：
the collision staggered her and she fell.
碰撞使她踉跄几下, 摔倒在地上。
2
- with obj. astonish or deeply shock使吃惊; 使震惊：
I was staggered to find it was six o'clock
我惊异地发现已经六点了
as adj. staggering the staggering bills for maintenance and repair.高得令人吃惊的维修账单。
3
- with obj. arrange (events, payments, hours, etc.) so that they do not occur at the same time; spread over a period of time使（事件、付款、时间等）错开, 使分开进行：
meetings are staggered throughout the day.
各种会议在一整天里错开来举行。
3.1
- arrange (objects or parts of an object) in a zigzag order or so that they are not in line使（物体, 物体的组成部分）交错排列：
stagger the screws at each joint.
在每个接头交错使用螺丝钉。
in sing.
1
- an unsteady walk or movement摇晃; 踉跄; 蹒跚：
the pub is within an easy stagger of his office.
从他的办公室随意走几步就是那个酒馆。
2
- an arrangement of things in a zigzag order or so that they are not in line, in particular交错安排, 尤指：
2.1
the stagger
the arrangement of the runners in lanes on a running track at the start of a race, so that the runner in the inside lane is positioned behind those in the next lane and so on until the outside lane赛跑选手起跑时的梯形排列。
2.2
- mass noun an arrangement of the wings of a biplane so that their front edges are not in line（双翼机机翼的）斜罩（两层机翼前端之前后差距）。
派生词
staggerer
nounstaggeringly
adverb一个风雨飘摇的黑暗社会。
词源
late Middle English (as a verb)： alteration of dialect stacker, from Old Norse stakra, frequentative of staka 'push, stagger'. The noun dates from the late 16th cent.