def destagger(var, stagger_dim, meta=False):
    """Return the variable on the unstaggered grid.

    This function destaggers the variable by taking the average of the
    values located on either side of the grid box.

    Args:

        var (:class:`xarray.DataArray` or :class:`numpy.ndarray`): A variable
            on a staggered grid.

        stagger_dim (:obj:`int`): The dimension index to destagger.
            Negative values can be used to choose dimensions referenced
            from the right hand side (-1 is the rightmost dimension).

        meta (:obj:`bool`, optional): Set to False to disable metadata and
            return :class:`numpy.ndarray` instead of
            :class:`xarray.DataArray`.  Default is False.

    Returns:

        :class:`xarray.DataArray` or :class:`numpy.ndarray`:
        The destaggered variable.  If xarray is enabled and
        the *meta* parameter is True, then the result will be a
        :class:`xarray.DataArray` object.  Otherwise, the result will be a
        :class:`numpy.ndarray` object with no metadata.

    """
    var_shape = var.shape
    num_dims = var.ndim
    stagger_dim_size = var_shape[stagger_dim]

    # Dynamically building the range slices to create the appropriate
    # number of ':'s in the array accessor lists.
    # For example, for a 3D array, the calculation would be
    # result = .5 * (var[:,:,0:stagger_dim_size-2]
    #                    + var[:,:,1:stagger_dim_size-1])
    # for stagger_dim=2.  So, full slices would be used for dims 0 and 1, but
    # dim 2 needs the special slice.
    full_slice = slice(None)
    slice1 = slice(0, stagger_dim_size - 1, 1)
    slice2 = slice(1, stagger_dim_size, 1)

    # default to full slices
    dim_ranges_1 = [full_slice] * num_dims
    dim_ranges_2 = [full_slice] * num_dims

    # for the stagger dim, insert the appropriate slice range
    dim_ranges_1[stagger_dim] = slice1
    dim_ranges_2[stagger_dim] = slice2

    result = .5*(var[tuple(dim_ranges_1)] + var[tuple(dim_ranges_2)])

    return result