different between chase vs stagger

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?e?s/
• Rhymes: -e?s

Etymology 1

From Middle English chacen, from Anglo-Norman chacer, Old French chacier, from Late Latin capti?re, present active infinitive of capti?, from Latin capt?, frequentative of capi?. Compare French chasser (“to hunt”, “to chase”), Spanish cazar (“to hunt”), Portuguese caçar (“to hunt”), see Norwegian skysse (“to hunt”).Doublet of catch.

Alternative forms

• chace (obsolete)

Noun

chase (countable and uncountable, plural chases)

1. The act of one who chases another; a pursuit.
2. A hunt.
3. (uncountable) A children's game where one player chases another.
4. (Britain) A large country estate where game may be shot or hunted.
   • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, ch. 14:

     Outside, the stately oaks, rooted for ages in the green ground which has never known ploughshare, but was still a chase when kings rode to battle with sword and shield and rode a-hunting with bow and arrow, bear witness to his greatness.

5. Anything being chased, especially a vessel in time of war.
6. (obsolete) A wild animal that is hunted.

   Synonym: game

   • 1575, George Gascoigne, The Noble Arte of Venerie of Hunting, London: Christopher Barker, Chapter 40, p. 111,^[1]

     As touching the Harte and such other light chases or beasts of Uenerie, the huntesmen on horsebacke may followe theyr houndes alwayes by the same wayes that they saw him passe ouer,

   • c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act V, Scene 2,^[2]

     Hold, Warwick, seek thee out some other chase,

     For I myself must hunt this deer to death.

7. (nautical) Any of the guns that fire directly ahead or astern; either a bow chase or stern chase.
8. (real tennis) The occurrence of a second bounce by the ball in certain areas of the court, giving the server the chance, later in the game, to "play off" the chase from the receiving end and possibly win the point.
9. (real tennis) A division of the floor of a gallery, marked by a figure or otherwise; the spot where a ball falls, and between which and the dedans the adversary must drive the ball in order to gain a point.
10. (cycling) One or more riders who are ahead of the peloton and trying to join the race or stage leaders.
11. (music) A series of brief improvised jazz solos by a number of musicians taking turns.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

chase (third-person singular simple present chases, present participle chasing, simple past and past participle chased)

1. (transitive) To pursue.
   1. (transitive) To follow at speed.
   2. (transitive) To hunt.
   3. (transitive) To seek to attain.

      the team are chasing their first home win this season.

   4. (transitive) To seek the company of (a member of the opposite sex) in an obvious way.

      He spends all his free time chasing girls.

   5. (transitive, nautical) To pursue a vessel in order to destroy, capture or interrogate her.
2. (transitive) To consume another beverage immediately after drinking hard liquor, typically something better tasting or less harsh such as soda or beer; to use a drink as a chaser

   I need something to chase this shot with.

3. (transitive, cricket) To attempt to win by scoring the required number of runs in the final innings.

   Australia will be chasing 217 for victory on the final day.

4. (transitive, baseball) To swing at a pitch outside of the strike zone, typically an outside pitch

   Jones chases one out of the zone for strike two.

5. (transitive, baseball) To produce enough offense to cause the pitcher to be removed

   The rally chased the starter.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:chase.

Synonyms

• pursue

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• follow

Etymology 2

Perhaps from French châsse (“case”, “reliquary”), from Old French chasse, from Latin capsa.

Noun

chase (plural chases)

1. (printing) A rectangular steel or iron frame into which pages or columns of type are locked for printing or plate-making.

Translations

Etymology 3

Possibly from obsolete French chas (“groove”, “enclosure”), from Old French, from Latin capsa, box. Or perhaps a shortening or derivative of enchase.

Noun

chase (plural chases)

1. A groove cut in an object; a slot: the chase for the quarrel on a crossbow.
2. (architecture) A trench or channel or other encasement structure for encasing (archaically spelled enchasing) drainpipes or wiring; a hollow space in the wall of a building encasing ventilation ducts, chimney flues, wires, cables or plumbing.
3. The part of a gun in front of the trunnions.
4. The cavity of a mold.
5. (shipbuilding) A kind of joint by which an overlap joint is changed to a flush joint by means of a gradually deepening rabbet, as at the ends of clinker-built boats.

Translations

Verb

chase (third-person singular simple present chases, present participle chasing, simple past and past participle chased)

1. (transitive) To groove; indent.
2. (transitive) To place piping or wiring in a groove encased within a wall or floor, or in a hidden space encased by a wall.

3. (transitive) To cut (the thread of a screw).
4. (transitive) To decorate (metal) by engraving or embossing.

Translations

Anagrams

• Chaes, Cheas, HACEs, aches, e-cash, ecash

Further reading

• chase on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From Middle English stageren, stakeren, from Old Norse stakra (“to push, stagger”). Cognate with dialectal Danish stagre.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?stæ??/?
• (US) IPA^(key): /?stæ??/
• Rhymes: -æ??(r)

Noun

stagger (plural staggers)

1. An unsteady movement of the body in walking or standing as if one were about to fall; a reeling motion
   • 7 October 2012, Paolo Bandini in The Guardian, Denver Broncos 21 New England Patriots 31 - as it happened

     Put down the rosary beads folks, I believe hell may just have frozen over. Peyton Manning drops back, sees nothing open and runs for a first down. If you can call that running. More like the stagger of a wounded rhino. Did the job, though

   • 1861, Ellen Wood, East Lynne Chapter 39

     Afy slowly gathered in the sense of the words. She gasped twice, as if her breath had gone, and then, with a stagger and a shiver, fell heavily to the ground.

   • 1843, Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol Stave 2

     And when old Fezziwig and Mrs. Fezziwig had gone all through the dance; advance and retire; both hands to your partner, bow and courtesy, corkscrew, thread the needle, and back again to your place; Fezziwig "cut"—cut so deftly that he appeared to wink with his legs, and came upon his feet again without a stagger.

2. (veterinary medicine) A disease of horses and other animals, attended by reeling, unsteady gait or sudden falling

3. Bewilderment; perplexity.
4. The spacing out of various actions over time.
   • 19 April 2016, Rachel Roddy in The Guardian, Rachel Roddy’s Roman spring vegetable stew recipe

     I don’t include cured pork, although it is very nice, and rather than putting everything in the pan at once I prefer a stagger of ingredients, which ensures each one gets the right amount of time.

5. (motor racing) 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.
6. (aviation) The horizontal positioning of a biplane, triplane, or multiplane's wings in relation to one another.

Translations

Verb

stagger (third-person singular simple present staggers, present participle staggering, simple past and past participle staggered)

1. Sway unsteadily, reel, or totter.
   1. (intransitive) 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.

      She began to stagger across the room.

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

   2. (transitive) To cause to reel or totter.

      The powerful blow of his opponent's fist staggered the boxer.
   3. (intransitive) To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail.
      • 1708, Joseph Addison, The Present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation

        The enemy staggers.

2. Doubt, waver, be shocked.
   1. (intransitive) 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.

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

      He will stagger the committee when he presents his report.

      • 1640, James Howell, England's Teares for the present Warres

        whosoever will be curious to read the future story of this intricate war , if it be possible to compile a story of it , he will find himself much staggered.

      • 1796, Edmund Burke, a letter to a noble lord

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

3. (transitive) Have multiple groups doing the same thing in a uniform fashion, but starting at different, evenly-spaced, times or places (attested from 1856).
   1. 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.
   2. To arrange similar objects such that each is ahead or above and to one side of the next.

      We will stagger the starting positions for the race on the oval track.

   3. To schedule in intervals.

      We will stagger the run so the faster runners can go first, then the joggers.

Translations

See also

• bestagger
• staggeringly
• staggers

References

Anagrams

• gagster, gargets, taggers