stagger

vt. 蹒跚；使交错；使犹豫

vi. 蹒跚；犹豫

n. 蹒跚；交错安排

adj. 交错的；错开的

中文词源

stagger 蹒跚，踉跄，震惊，吃惊，使交错，错开

来自古诺斯语 stakra,推，挤，使打转，来自 Proto-Germanic*stakon,棍子，柱子，来自 PIE*steg, 棍子，柱子，词源同 stack,stick.-er,表反复。其字面意思可能是用棍子在后面追打或赶，引申词义蹒跚，踉跄，及相关比喻义。

stagger (v.): mid-15c., "walk unsteadily, reel" (intransitive), altered from stakeren (early 14c.), from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Danish stagra, Old Norse stakra "to push, shove, cause to reel," also "to stumble, stagger," perhaps literally "hit with a stick," from Proto-Germanic *stakon- "a stake," from PIE *steg- (1) "pole, stick." Cognate with Dutch staggelen "to stagger," German staggeln "to stammer." Transitive sense of "bewilder, amaze" first recorded 1550s; that of "arrange in a zig-zag pattern" is from 1856. Related: Staggered; staggering.

“使打嗝”，克劳斯看到迈克尔吓得死打嗝《吸血鬼日记》2. 因为“震惊”而导致的蹒跚、摇晃，犹如晴天霹雳。3. stumble + swagger => stagger.4. stumble => stagger.

1. Truman allowed him to stagger on for nearly another two years.: 杜鲁门允许他又硬撑了近两年。

2. Our management has decided to stagger our working hour.: 我们的管理层已决定错开工作时间.

4. Stagger and stumble suggest unsteady or uncontrolledmovement.: stagger和stumble均指不稳的或身不由己的动作.

5. We can't hold the two meetings at the same time; we must stagger them.: 这两个会不能同时开, 得错一下.