staggers
Walks unsteadily, lurching
Staggers works as both verb and noun around the idea of unsteady movement.
To stagger is to walk or move unsteadily, as if about to fall: He staggered out of the bar.
You can stagger under a heavy load or stagger from shock.
To stagger appointments or shifts is to arrange them at intervals rather than all at once: staggered work hours.
News can stagger you—leave you reeling.
The staggers is a disease affecting livestock, causing them to lose coordination and stumble.
Move unsteadily, nearly falling
- lurchAbrupt unsteady movement
- stumbleLose footing momentarily
- reelWinding cylinder or dance
- wobbleUnsteady side-to-side motion
sway · teeter · falter · shuffle · shamble · weave · careen · flounder
Overwhelms with shock
- astoundsShocks with amazement
- amazesCauses great wonder
- astonishesShocks with wonder
- dumbfoundsShocks into silence
flabbergasts · bewilders · overwhelms · stupefies · boggles · floors · gobsmacks · jolts
Disease impairing brain function
- cattleDomesticated bovines kept commercially
- horsesLarge domesticated hoofed mammals
- sheepWoolly farm animal
- neurologicalOf the nervous system
ataxia · tremors · convulsions · paralysis · veterinary · grazing · pasture · toxicity
totter
Move unsteadily, nearly falling
wobble · sway · teeter · falter · shuffle · shamble · weave · careen · flounder · pitch
stuns
Overwhelms with shock
- astoundsShocks with amazement
- amazesCauses great wonder
- astonishesShocks with wonder
dumbfounds · flabbergasts · bewilders · overwhelms · stupefies · boggles · floors · gobsmacks · jolts · shocks
encephalopathy
Disease impairing brain function
- cattleDomesticated bovines kept commercially
- horsesLarge domesticated hoofed mammals
- sheepWoolly farm animal
neurological · ataxia · tremors · convulsions · paralysis · veterinary · grazing · pasture · toxicity · metabolic
wavers
Fails to decide
- faltersLoses steadiness or confidence
- vacillatesFluctuates between positions
- hesitatesShows momentary indecision
doubts · pauses · balks · dithers · second-guesses · wobbles · recoils · flinches · shrinks · demurs
offset
Compensate by opposing force
distribute · phase · space · intervals · shifts · sequence · arrange · echelon · tier · cascade
- gait problemslimp, limping, hobble, hobbling, shuffle
- setbacksfailing, back to square one, stuck, losing, stumbles
- stunsamazes, astounds, dumbfounds, stuns, shocks
- diving medicinedecompression sickness, barotrauma, the bends, bends, hyperbaric chamber
- Newfoundland SlangCFA, screech, mummer, outport, bayman
- staggered startOffset initial positions
- staggered hoursVaried start and end times
- staggered stanceFeet placed front-to-back
- staggered formationNon-linear parallel positioning
stagger, staggering, staggered, staggeringly, staggerer, unstaggered