▪ I. staggy, n. Sc.
(ˈstægɪ)
In 8–9 stagie, staggie.
[dim. of stag n.1 + -ie, -y.]
A colt.
| 1786 Burns To Auld Mare i, Thou could hae gaen like ony staggie Out owre the lay. 1792 G. Galloway Poems 42 Guide honest John ride frae Kilbagie, Upon a bonny dappl'd stagie. 1803 [Sir A. Boswell] Songs 13 When ilka bit laddie maun ha'e his bit stagie. 1910 Blackw. Mag. Feb. 263/1 One of them is only a wee bit staggie. |
▪ II. staggy, a.
(ˈstægɪ)
[f. stag n.1 + -y1.]
1. a. N.Z. and N. Amer. Of an animal or its meat: having the characteristics or appearance of a mature male (see quots.).
| 1933 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) 9 Dec. 17/8 Stag, imperfectly, or late castrated male sheep or steer. Hence staggy. 1934 Webster, Staggy, having the appearance of a mature male animal;—said of female domestic animals. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Sept. 201/3 Complaints about the proportion of ‘staggy’ New Zealand wether lamb carcasses have been received recently from the United Kingdom. 1974 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 12 Dec. 8/2 The quality of beef within a grade can vary, depending on whether an animal is staggy or whether it weighs less than 550 pounds or more than 700. A staggy steer exhibits bull-like characteristics and has tougher meat. |
b. Austral. (See quot.)
| 1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. i. 30 Sometimes the [potato] sets remain fresh and do not decay in the soil after the haulms have developed; they remain ‘staggy’ or hard and woody. |
2. a. Abounding in stags. rare.
| 1921 Blackw. Mag. July 34/2 Very staggy ground this. Indeed, a sambur grunted in covert which we watched. |
b. fig. Of a tree, etc.: having bare branches. Cf. stag-headed a. 2.
| 1933 R. Campbell Flowering Reeds 21 Bare trees..Down the long avenue in staggy flight Are hunted by the hungers of the gale. 1961 P. White Riders in Chariot i. 13 Slapped by a staggy elder-bush..Whipped by the little sarsaparilla vine. 1973 ― Eye of Storm vii. 322 Under the staggy orange trees, amongst the hummocks, in the green haze of Noamurra. |