stagger 
My sight gtatjyerx; the walls shake; he must be do 
angels ever come hither? 
Landor, Imag. Conv., Galileo, Milton, and a Dominican. 
2. To hesitate ; begin to doubt or waver iii 
purpose; falter; become less confident or de- 
termined; waver; vacillate. 
He staggered not at the promise of God through un- 
belief. ' Rom. l\: 20. 
It was long since resolved on, 
Nor must I stagger now in 't. 
Massinger, Unnatural Combat, ii. 1. 
The enterprise of the . . . newspapers stops at no ex- 
pense, utayyers at no difficulties. 
Harper's May., LXXVII. 887. 
= Syn. 1. Totter, etc. See reels. 
It. trails. 1. To cause to reel, totter, falter, 
or be unsteady ; shake. 
I have seen enough to stagger my obedience. 
Fletcher, Valentinian, iii. 1. 
Strikes and lock-outs occur, which stagger the prosper- 
ity, not of the business merely, but of the state. 
N. A. Rev., CXXXIX. 615. 
2. To cause to hesitate, waver, or doubt; fill 
with doubts or misgivings; make loss steady, 
determined, or confident. 
The question did at first so stagger me. 
Shalt., Hen. VIII., ii. 4. 212. 
'Tis not to die, sir, 
But to die unreveng'd, that staggers me. 
Fletcher, Double Marriage, iv. 1. 
3. To arrange in a zigzag order; specifically, 
"in wheel-making, to set (the spokes) in the hub 
alternately inside and outside (or more or less to 
one side of) a line drawn round the hub. The 
mortise-holes in such a hub are said to be dodging. A 
wheel made in this manner is called a staggered wheel. 
The objects sought in this system of construction are in- 
creased strength and stiffness in the wheel, 
stagger (stag'er), n. [< stagger, '.] 1. A sud- 
den tottering motion, swing, or reel of the body 
as if one were about to fall, as through tripping, 
giddiness, or intoxication. 
Their trepidations are more shaking than cold ague-fits; 
their staggers worse than a drunkard's. 
Rev. T. Adam, Works, 1. 127. 
The individual . . . advanced with a motion that alter- 
nated between a reel and a stagger. 
0. A. Sola, Dutch Pictures, The Ship-Chandler. (Latham.) 
2. pi. One of various forms of functional and 
organic disease of the brain and spinal cord in 
domesticated animals, especially horses and cat- 
tle: more fully called blind staggers. A kind of 
staggers (see also gidl and sturdy?) affecting sheep is spe- 
cifically the disease resulting from a larval brain-worm. 
(See eosnure and T&nia.) Other forms are due to distur- 
bance of the circulation in the brain, and others again to 
digestive derangements. See stomach-staggers. 
How now ! my galloway nag the staggers, ha ! 
B. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, IT. 3. 
Hence 3. pi. A feeling of giddiness, reeling, 
or unsteadiness ; a sensation which causes reel- 
ing. 
Johp. And a kind of whimsie 
Mere. Here in my head, that puts me to the staggers. 
B. Jonson, Fortunate Isles. 
4. pi. Perplexities; doubts; bewilderment; 
confusion. 
I will throw thee from my care for ever, 
Into the staggers and the careless lapse 
Of youth and ignorance. 
Shak., All's Well, il. 3. 170. 
Blind staggers. See def. 2, above. Grass-staggers, 
the loco-disease in horses. See loco, 2, and loco-weed. 
Stagger-bush (Amtremeda Mariana), i, flowering branch; 
2, the fruits. 
370 
5880 
stagger-bush (stag'er-bush), H. The shrub AH- 
ilriiiiinlii (I'ii-rin) Miiriinni of the middle and 
southern United States, whose leaves have been 
supposed to give the stagers to aiiimtils. Its 
fascicles of waxy pure-white or pinkish nrn-shapeii flow- 
ers are very beautiful, the habit of the bush less so. Sec 
cut in preceding column. 
Staggerer (stag'er-c-r), ii. [< slaggrr + -<;!.] 1. 
One wild or that which staggers. 2. A state- 
ment or argument that staggers; a poser; what- 
ever causes one to stagger, falter, hesitate, or 
doubt. [Colloq.] 
This wns a ttayjerer for Dive's literary "gent," and it 
took him nearly six weeks to get over it nd triune a reply. 
Atheneeum, Oct. 20, 1889, p. 500. 
stagger-grass (stag'er-gras),?*. Theatamasco- 
lily, Xi'pliijrantlH'x Atamiisco: so called as sup- 
posed to cause staggers in horses. 
Staggeringly (stag'er-ing-li), n<lr. In a stag- 
gering or reeling manner; with hesitation or 
doubt. Imp. DM. 
staggerwort (stag'er-wert), n. Same as stnn-i-- 
icort: so called as supposed to cure the staggers, 
oT, as Prior thinks, from its application to newly 
castrated bulls, called stags. 
staggont (stag'on), n. [Also stagon (ML. stag- 
gon); < stag + -on, a suffix of F. origin.] A 
staggard. Holinslied. 
Called in the fourth [year] a stayon. 
Stanihurst, Descrip. of Eng., Hi. 4. 
Stag-headed (stag'hed'ed), a. Having the up- 
per branches dead : said of a tree. 
They were made of particular parts of the growth of cer- 
tain very old oaks, which had grown for ages, and had at 
length become stag-headed and half-dead. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVIII. 787. 
stag-horn (stag'horn), n. 1. A common club- 
moss, Lycopodium clavatum. Also stag's-horn. 
Or with that plant which in our dale 
We call stag-horn, or fox's tail. 
Wordsworth, Idle Shepherd-Boys. 
2. Amadrepore coral, ifadreporacerpicorwi's and 
related species,used for ornament. See cut un- 
der Madrepore. stag-born fern, a fern of the genus 
Platyceriwm, but especially P. alcicoriie : so called from 
the fact that the fertile fronds are dichotomously forked 
like a stag's horn. The genus is small but widely diffused. 
The name is also sometimes applied to certain species of 
Ophioglossum. Stag-born moss. Same as stag-horn, 1. 
Stag-born sumac. See sumac. 
Stag-horned (stag'h6rnd), a. Having long ser- 
rate antennae, as the longicorn beetle Acan- 
thophorus serraticornig. 
Staghound (stag'hound), n. A hunting-dog 
able to overtake and cope with a stag, (a) The 
Scotch deerhound or wolf-dog, of great speed, strength, 
and courage, standing 28 inches or more, with a shaggy 
or wiry coat, usually some shade of gray. They hunt 
chiefly by sight, and are used in stalking the red deer, for 
running down the game. (i>) A large kind of fox-hound, 
about 25 inches high, trained to hunt deer by scent. 
staginess (sta'ji-nes), n. [< stagy + -ness.] 1. 
Stagy or exaggerated character or style ; con- 
ventional theatricality. Also stageyness. 2. 
A certain stage or state of an animal; by im- 
plication, that stage when the animal is out of 
condition, as when a fur-bearing animal is shed- 
ding. [Colloq.] 
Those signs of shedding and staginess so marked in the 
seal. Fisheries o/ U. S., V. ii. 488. 
Staging (sta'jing), n. [Verbal n. of stage, v.~\ 
1. A temporary structure of posts and boards 
for support, as in building; scaffolding. 2. 
The business of running or managing stage- 
coaches, or the act of traveling in them. 
stagiont, [Appar. an altered form of stag- 
ing, simulating station (ME. station, < OF. sta- 
tion, estayon, estachon, estagon, e^c.): see sta- 
tion.'] Stage; a staging; a pier. 
In these tydes there must he lost no lot of time, for, if 
you arriue not at the stagions before the tyde be spent, 
vou must turne backe from whence you came. 
HakluyCs Voyages, II. 234. 
Staglrite (staj'i-rit), n. [Also, erroneously, Sta- 
</i/nte; = F. Stagyrite = Sp. Pg. Estagirita = 
It. Stagirita, < L. Stagirites, Stagerites, < Or. 
Zrayp<Ti?f , an inhabitant or a native of Stagira 
(applied esp. to Aristotle), < IrArttaa, Zraytipoc 
(L. Stagira), a city of Macedonia.] A native 
or an inhabitant of Stagira, a city of Macedonia 
(Chalcidice), situated on the Strymonic Gulf; 
specifically, Aristotle, the "prince of philoso- 
phers" (384-322 B. c.), who was born there, and 
is frequently referred to as "the Stagirite." 
The mighty StagvrUe first left the shore, 
Spread all his sails, and durst the deep explore ; 
He steer'd securely, and discover'd far, 
Led by the light of the Majonian star. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 645. 
stagnancy (stag'nan-si), n. [< stagnan(t) + 
-cy.] 1. The state of being stagnant or with- 
Stahlian 
out motion, flow, or circulation, as a fluid ; stag- 
nation. 
There is nowhere stillness and ulii'iiuinri/. 
rin- r,.,,luT!/, XX VII. 174. 
2. PI. ntagniiiii-iis (-six). Anything stagnant: 
a stagnant pool. 
Though the country people are i> IM' 
To c;i!l tlu-sr rivers, they're but utagnancief, 
Left by tin- tlcinil. 
i -1,11111,, Wonders of the Peaks (1681), p. 55. 
Stagnant (stag'mmt), a. [< F. stagnant = It. 
s'ligiiHiite, < L. Stagnant-)*, ppr. of gtayiitirr, 
form a pool of standing water, cause to stand: 
see stagnate.] 1. Standing; motionless, as the 
water of a pool or lake ; without current or mo- 
tion, ebb or flow : as, xtai/naiit water: stagnant 
pools. 
Where the water is stopped in a stagnant pond 
Danced over by the midge. 
Browning, By the Fireside. 
2. Inert; inactive; sluggish; torpid; dull; not 
brisk: as, business is stagnant. 
The gloomy slumber of the stagnant soul. Johnson. 
stagnantly (stag'nant-li), adv. In a stagnant 
or still, motionless, inactive manner. 
stagnate (stag'nat), <. i. ; pret. and pp. stag- 
nated, ppr. stagnating. [C L. stngnattis, pp. 
of stagnarc (> It. stagnare = F. stagner), form 
a pool of standing water, stagnate, be over- 
flowed, < stagnum, a pool, swamp. Cf. ftonfcl.] 
1. To cease to run or flow; be or become mo- 
tionless ; have no current. 
I am fifty winters old ; 
Blood then stagnates and grows cold. 
Cotton, Anacreontic. 
In this flat country, large rivers, that scarce had decliv- 
ity enough to run, crept slowly along, through meadows 
of fat black earth, stagnating in many places as they went. 
Bruce, Source of the Nile, I. 372. 
2. To cease to be brisk or active ; become dull, 
inactive, or inert: as, business stagnates. 
Ready-witted tenderness . . . never stagnates in vain 
lamentations while there is room for hope. Scott. 
stagnate! (stag'nat), a. [< L. stagnatus, pp.: 
see the verb.] Stagnant. 
To drain the stagnate fen. 
SomeniUc, The Chase, iii. 440. 
stagnation (stag-na'shon), . [= F. stagna- 
tion; as stagnate + -ion'.'] 1. The condition of 
being stagnant; the cessation of flow or circu- 
lation in a fluid; the state of being without flow, 
or of being motionless. 
Th' icy touch 
Of unproliftc winter has impress'd 
A cola stagnation on th' intestine tide. 
Cowper, Task, vi. 139. 
In ... [suffocation] life is extinguished by stagnation 
of non-arterialized blood in the capillaries of the lungs, 
and by the changes that result from the failure of the 
function of the pulmonic system. 
J. M. Carnochan, Operative Surgery, p. 398. 
2. Lack or absence of briskness or activity; 
inertness; dullness. 
The decay of my faculties is a stagnation of my life. 
Steele, Spectator, No. 260. 
stagnicoloUS (stag-nik'o-lus). a. [< L. stag- 
mini, a pool, + colere, inhabit.] Living in stag- 
nant water; inhabiting swamps or fens ; palu- 
dicole, as a bird. 
stagont, See staggon. 
Stag-party (stag'par'ti), . A party or enter- 
tainment to which men only are invited. 
[Slang, U. S.] 
Stag's-horn(stagz'h6rn),n. Sameasstagf-/(om,l. 
stag-tick (stag'tik), . A parasitic dipterous 
insect, Leptoptena ccrri, of the family Eippobos- 
cidse, which infests the stag and other animals, 
and resembles a tick in being usually wingless. 
Stag-worm (stag'werm), n. The larva of one 
of several bot-flies which infest the stag. There 
are 12 species, of which (all of the genus Hypoderma) 
inhabit the subcutaneous tissue of the back and loins ; the 
others (belonging to the genera Cephenomyia and Pha- 
rynyomyia) infest the nose and throat. 
st'agy(sta'ji), a. [Also stagey; <stage + -y 1 .] 
Savoringof the stage; theatrical; conventional 
in manner: in a depreciatory sense. 
Mr. Lewes ... is keenly alive to everything stagey in 
physiognomy and gesture. 
George Eliot, in Cross's Life.II. xlii. 
The general tone of his thought and expression never 
rose above the ceremonious, stagy, and theatrical charac- 
ter of the 18th century. Encyc. Brit., XII. 97. 
Stagyrite, n. An erroneous spelling of Stagi- 
rite. 
Stahlian (sta'lian), n.and n. [< Staltl (see def.) 
4- -Jan.] I. a. "Of or pertaining to G. E. Stahl, 
a German chemist (1660-1734), or his doctrines. 
II. n. A believer in or supporter of Stablian- 
ism or animism. 
