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In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed... No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.
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1828 Noah Webster Dictionary
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1828.mshaffer.com › Word [stagger]

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stagger

STAGGER, v.t.

1. To reel; to vacillate; to move to one side and the other in standing or walking; not to stand or walk with steadiness.

Deep was the wound; he staggerd with the blow.

2. To fail; to cease to stand firm; to begin to give way.

The enemy staggers.

3. To hesitate; to begin to doubt and waver in purpose; to become less confident or determined.

Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. Romans 4.


Evolution (or devolution) of this word [stagger]

1828 Webster1844 Webster1913 Webster

STAGGER, v.t.

1. To reel; to vacillate; to move to one side and the other in standing or walking; not to stand or walk with steadiness.

Deep was the wound; he staggerd with the blow.

2. To fail; to cease to stand firm; to begin to give way.

The enemy staggers.

3. To hesitate; to begin to doubt and waver in purpose; to become less confident or determined.

Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. Romans 4.

STAG'GER, v.i. [D. staggeren. Kiliaan.]

  1. To reel; to vacillate; to move to one side and the other in standing or walking; not to stand or walk with steadiness. – Boyle. Deep was the wound; he stagger'd with the blow. – Dryden.
  2. To fail; to cease to stand firm; to begin to give way. The enemy staggers. – Addison.
  3. To hesitate; to begin to doubt and waver in purpose; to become less confident or determined. – Shak. Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. – Rom. iv.

STAG'GER, v.t.

  1. To cause to reel. – Shak.
  2. To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make less steady or confident; to shock. Whoever will read the story of this war, will find himself much staggered. – Howell. When a prince fails in honor and justice, It is enough to stagger his people in their allegiance. – L'Estrange.

Stag"ger
  1. To move to one side and the other, as if about to fall, in standing or walking; not to stand or walk with steadiness; to sway; to reel or totter.

    Deep was the wound; he staggered with the blow. Dryden.

  2. To cause to reel or totter.

    That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire
    That staggers thus my person.     Shak.

  3. An unsteady movement of the body in walking or standing, as if one were about to fall; a reeling motion; vertigo; -- often in the plural; as, the stagger of a drunken man.
  4. To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail.

    "The enemy staggers." Addison.
  5. To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make less steady or confident; to shock.

    Whosoever will read the story of this war will find himself much stagered. Howell.

    Grants to the house of Russell were so enormous, as not only to outrage economy, but even to stagger credibility. Burke.

  6. A disease of horses and other animals, attended by reeling, unsteady gait or sudden falling; as, parasitic staggers; appopletic or sleepy staggers.
  7. To begin to doubt and waver in purposes; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate.

    He [Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. Rom. iv. 20.

  8. To arrange (a series of parts) on each side of a median line alternately, as the spokes of a wheel or the rivets of a boiler seam.
  9. Bewilderment; perplexity.

    [R.] Shak.

    Stomach staggers (Far.), distention of the stomach with food or gas, resulting in indigestion, frequently in death.

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Stagger

STAGGER, verb transitive

1. To reel; to vacillate; to move to one side and the other in standing or walking; not to stand or walk with steadiness.

Deep was the wound; he staggerd with the blow.

2. To fail; to cease to stand firm; to begin to give way.

The enemy staggers.

3. To hesitate; to begin to doubt and waver in purpose; to become less confident or determined.

Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. Romans 4:20.

STAGGER, verb transitive

1. To cause to reel.

2. To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make less steady or confident; to shock.

Whoever will read the story of this war, will find himself much staggered.

When a prince fails in honor and justice, it is enough to stagger his people in their allegiance.

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Word of the Day

importance

IMPORT'ANCE, n.

1. Weight; consequence; a bearing on some interest; that quality of any thing by which it may affect a measure, interest or result. The education of youth is of great importance to a free government. A religious education is of infinite importance to every human being.

2. Weight or consequence in the scale of being.

Thy own importance know.

Nor bound thy narrow views to things below.

3. Weight or consequence in self-estimation.

He believes himself a man of importance.

4. Thing implied; matter; subject; importunity. [In these senses, obsolete.]

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CAT-TAIL, n.

1. A species of reed, of the genus Typha, the downy substance of which is used for stuffing mattresses, &c.

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