the.com/stagger
The art of arriving everywhere slightly sideways, whether drunk, dazzled, or dodging the world's queues.
means To walk or move unsteadily, as if about to fall — or, by extension, to space things out so they don't all land at once (staggered start times, staggered shifts).
from From Old Norse 'stakra,' meaning to push or stagger, a frequentative of 'staka' (to push, totter). It came into Middle English as 'stakeren,' and the spelling drifted to 'stagger' over time. The two-thing sense — spacing events apart — is a much later figurative leap: things arranged so they lurch into view one after another rather than all at once.
- crowd control
- Staggered work shifts thin out deadly rush-hour crushes
- old root
- From Norse stakra, meaning to push or shove
- boxing term
- A staggered fighter still standing is one punch from oblivion
- brick logic
- Staggered bricklaying stops cracks running straight through walls
staggered board elections — corporate governance practice where directors serve overlapping terms (e.g., 3-year terms, 1/3 elected annually) to resist hostile takeovers
staggered work hours — city transit systems like nyc mta use staggered employee schedules to maintain 24/7 operations and reduce crowding