Inch vs Stagger - What's the difference?
inch | stagger | Related terms |
A unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot, or exactly 2.54 centimetres.
(meteorology) The amount of water which would cover a surface to the depth of an inch, used as a measurement of rainfall.
The amount of an alcoholic beverage which would fill a glass or bottle to the depth of an inch.
(figuratively) A very short distance.
* Shakespeare
(followed by a preposition) To advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction).
* 1957 , :
*:The window blind had been lowered — Zooey had done all his bathtub reading by the light from the three-bulb overhead fixture—but a fraction of morning light inched under the blind and onto the title page of the manuscript.
* {{quote-news
, year=2012
, date=May 9
, author=John Percy
, title=Birmingham City 2 Blackpool 2 (2-3 on agg): match report
, work=the Telegraph
To drive by inches, or small degrees.
* Dryden
To deal out by inches; to give sparingly.
(Scotland) A small island
* Sir Walter Scott, Rosabelle
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.
A disease of horses and other animals, attended by reeling, unsteady gait or sudden falling; as, parasitic staggers; apoplectic or sleepy staggers.
bewilderment; perplexity.
In motorsport, the difference in circumference between the left and right tires on a racing vehicle. It is used on oval tracks to make the car turn better in the corners.
sway unsteadily, reel, or totter
# In standing or walking, to sway from one side to the other as if about to fall; to stand or walk unsteadily; to reel or totter.
#* Dryden
# To cause to reel or totter.
#* Shakespeare
# To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail.
#* Addison
doubt, waver, be shocked
# To begin to doubt and waver in purposes; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate.
#* Bible, Rom. iv. 20
# To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make less steady or confident; to shock.
#* Howell
#* Burke
Multiple groups doing the same thing in a uniform fashion, but starting at different, evenly-spaced, times or places (attested from 1856
# 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.
# To arrange similar objects such that each is ahead or above and to one side of the next.
# To schedule in intervals.
Inch is a related term of stagger.
As nouns the difference between inch and stagger
is that inch is a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot, or exactly 254 centimetres or inch can be (scotland) a small island while stagger is 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.As verbs the difference between inch and stagger
is that inch is (followed by a preposition) to advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction) while stagger is sway unsteadily, reel, or totter.inch
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) (ang) ynce, from (etyl) . Compare ounce.Noun
(es)- "Don't move an inch !"
- Beldame, I think we watched you at an inch .
Derived terms
* every inch * * inch-perfectVerb
(es)- Fearful of falling, he inched along the window ledge.
citation, page= , passage=Already guarding a 1-0 lead from the first leg, Blackpool inched further ahead when Stephen Dobbie scored from an acute angle on the stroke of half-time. The game appeared to be completely beyond Birmingham’s reach three minutes into the second period when Matt Phillips reacted quickly to bundle the ball past Colin Doyle and off a post.}}
- He gets too far into the soldier's grace / And inches out my master.
Derived terms
* inch along * inch forward * inch up * inchwormSee also
* thou * milEtymology 2
From Gaelic (innis)Noun
(es)- The blackening wave is edged with white; / To inch and rock the sea-mews fly.
Usage notes
* Found especially in the names of small Scottish islands, e.g. (Inchcolm), (Inchkeith).Anagrams
* English intransitive verbsstagger
English
Noun
(en noun)Stock Car Racing magazine article on stagger, February 2009
Verb
(en verb)- She began to stagger across the room.
- Deep was the wound; he staggered with the blow.
- The powerful blow of his opponent's fist staggered the boxer.
- That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire / That staggers thus my person.
- The enemy staggers .
- He [Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief.
- He will stagger the committee when he presents his report.
- Whosoever will read the story of this war will find himself much staggered .
- Grants to the house of Russell were so enormous, as not only to outrage economy, but even to stagger credibility.
Etymology] in [[:w:Online Etymology Dictionary, Online Etymology Dictionary]).
- We will stagger the starting positions for the race on the oval track.
- We will stagger the run so the faster runners can go first, then the joggers.