linger

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Related to linger: liger

lin·ger

(lĭng′gər)

intr.v. lin·gered, lin·ger·ing, lin·gers

1. To stay in a place or be slow in leaving it, often out of reluctance: Friends lingered at the picnic tables, chatting. See Synonyms at stay¹.

a. To continue or persist: a smell that lingered in the air; doubts that lingered in my mind.

b. To remain feebly alive for some time before dying.

3. To proceed slowly; saunter: "the careless grace and dignity with which she lingered along the garden path" (Henry James).

4. To devote considerable time to something, especially in a leisurely fashion: We lingered over the question for an hour.

[Middle English lengeren, frequentative of lengen, to prolong, from Old English lengan; see del- in Indo-European roots.]

lin′ger·er n.

lin′ger·ing·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

linger

(ˈlɪŋɡə)

vb (mainly intr)

1. to delay or prolong departure

2. to go in a slow or leisurely manner; saunter

3. to remain just alive for some time prior to death

4. to persist or continue, esp in the mind

5. to be slow to act; dither; procrastinate

[C13 (northern dialect) lengeren to dwell, from lengen to prolong, from Old English lengan; related to Old Norse lengja; see long¹]

ˈlingerer n

ˈlingering adj

ˈlingeringly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lin•ger

(ˈlɪŋ gər)
v.i.

1. to remain or stay on in a place longer than is usual or expected.

2. to remain alive or in use, though with diminishing vitality.

3. to dwell in contemplation, thought, or enjoyment: to linger over the painting.

4. to be tardy in action; delay.

5. to walk slowly.

v.t.

6. to pass (time) in a leisurely or a tedious manner (usu. fol. by away or out).

[1250–1300; Middle English lengeren to dwell, remain, frequentative of lengen, Old English lengan to prolong, literally, lengthen]

lin′ger•er, n.

linger

Past participle: lingered
Gerund: lingering

Imperative
linger
linger

Present
I linger
you linger
he/she/it lingers
we linger
you linger
they linger

Preterite
I lingered
you lingered
he/she/it lingered
we lingered
you lingered
they lingered

Present Continuous
I am lingering
you are lingering
he/she/it is lingering
we are lingering
you are lingering
they are lingering

Present Perfect
I have lingered
you have lingered
he/she/it has lingered
we have lingered
you have lingered
they have lingered

Past Continuous
I was lingering
you were lingering
he/she/it was lingering
we were lingering
you were lingering
they were lingering

Past Perfect
I had lingered
you had lingered
he/she/it had lingered
we had lingered
you had lingered
they had lingered

Future
I will linger
you will linger
he/she/it will linger
we will linger
you will linger
they will linger

Future Perfect
I will have lingered
you will have lingered
he/she/it will have lingered
we will have lingered
you will have lingered
they will have lingered

Future Continuous
I will be lingering
you will be lingering
he/she/it will be lingering
we will be lingering
you will be lingering
they will be lingering

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been lingering
you have been lingering
he/she/it has been lingering
we have been lingering
you have been lingering
they have been lingering

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been lingering
you will have been lingering
he/she/it will have been lingering
we will have been lingering
you will have been lingering
they will have been lingering

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been lingering
you had been lingering
he/she/it had been lingering
we had been lingering
you had been lingering
they had been lingering

Conditional
I would linger
you would linger
he/she/it would linger
we would linger
you would linger
they would linger

Past Conditional
I would have lingered
you would have lingered
he/she/it would have lingered
we would have lingered
you would have lingered
they would have lingered

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Verb	1.	linger - remain present although waning or gradually dying; "Her perfume lingered on" persist, remain, stay - stay behind; "The smell stayed in the room"; "The hostility remained long after they made up"
	2.	linger - be about; "The high school students like to loiter in the Central Square"; "Who is this man that is hanging around the department?" footle, hang around, lallygag, loiter, lollygag, mess about, mill about, mill around, tarry, lounge, lurk, loaf be - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer" prowl, lurch - loiter about, with no apparent aim
	3.	linger - leave slowly and hesitantly tarry go forth, leave, go away - go away from a place; "At what time does your train leave?"; "She didn't leave until midnight"; "The ship leaves at midnight"
	4.	linger - take one's time; proceed slowly dawdle move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right" dwell on, linger over - delay hie, hotfoot, pelt along, race, rush, rush along, speed, step on it, belt along, bucket along, cannonball along, hasten - move fast; "He rushed down the hall to receive his guests"; "The cars raced down the street"
	5.	linger - move to and fro; "The shy student lingered in the corner" hover hesitate, waffle, waver - pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness; "Authorities hesitate to quote exact figures"

linger

verb

1. continue, last, remain, stay, carry on, endure, persist, abide The guilty feelings lingered.

2. hang on, last, survive, cling to life, die slowly He lingered for weeks in a coma.

3. stay, remain, stop, wait, delay, lag, hang around, idle, dally, loiter, take your time, wait around, dawdle, hang in the air, procrastinate, tarry, drag your feet or heels Customers are welcome to linger over coffee until midnight.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

linger

verb

1. To stop temporarily and remain, as if reluctant to leave:

abide, bide, pause, stay, tarry, wait.

2. To continue to be in a place:

abide, bide, remain, stay, tarry, wait.

Informal: stick around.

Idiom: stay put.

3. To go or move slowly so that progress is hindered:

dally, dawdle, delay, dilly-dally, drag, lag, loiter, poke, procrastinate, tarry, trail.

Idioms: drag one's feet, mark time, take one's time.

Translations

يَبْقىيَتَوانى

přetrvávatprodlévat

dvæleforblivefortsætte

bleiben trödeln verweilen

perdurar persistir quedarse rezagarse

attarder demeurer persister

idõzik

dvelja, verîa eftirstaldra viî

indugiare perdurare rimanere vivo attardare

tvyrotiužsibūtiužtrukti

ieilgtkavētiesuzkavētiesvilcināties

dvele

pomuditi se

devam etmek oyalanmak

徘徊持续逗留

linger

[ˈlɪŋgəʳ] VI

1. (= be unwilling to go) → rezagarse, tardar en marcharse

2. (also linger on) (in dying) → tardar en morirse; [pain] → persistir, durar; [doubts] → persistir, quedar; [smell] → persistir, tardar en desaparecer; [tradition] → sobrevivir; [memory] → pervivir, seguir vivo

3. (= take one's time) to linger on a subject → dilatarse con un tema
I let my eye linger on the scene → seguía sin apartar los ojos de la escena
to linger over doing sth → tardar or no darse prisa en hacer algo
to linger over a meal → comer despacio

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

linger

[ˈlɪŋgə^r] vi

[person] → s'attarder
Davis lingered for a moment in the bar → Davis s'attarda un moment au bar.
to linger over a cup of coffee → se prélasser en buvant une tasse de café

[smell, tradition] → persister; [feeling] → persister

linger

(also linger on) → (zurück)bleiben, verweilen (liter); (in dying) → zwischen Leben und Tod schweben; (custom) → fortbestehen, sich halten; (doubts, suspicions) → zurückbleiben; (feeling, emotion, pain) → anhalten, bleiben; (memory) → fortbestehen, bleiben; (chords) → nachklingen; (scent) → sich halten; the party was over, but many of the guests lingered in the hall → die Party war vorbei, aber viele Gäste standen noch im Flur herum; it was incredible how Franco lingered on → es war erstaunlich, wie Franco sich an der Macht festkkrallte

(= delay) → sich aufhalten, verweilen (liter); I mustn’t linger or I’ll miss the bus → ich darf mich nicht lange aufhalten, sonst verpasse ich den Bus

(= dwell) to linger on a subject → bei einem Thema verweilen (geh); I let my eyes linger on the scene → ich ließ meinen Blick auf der Szene ruhen; to linger over a meal → sich (dat) → bei einer Mahlzeit Zeit lassen, sich bei einer Mahlzeit lange aufhalten; we lingered over a glass of wine → wir tranken gemächlich ein Glas Wein

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

linger

[ˈlɪŋgəʳ] vi (person, dawdle) → indugiare; (wait) → attardarsi; (be on the point of death) → trascinarsi; (smell, memory, tradition) → persistere
to linger over a meal → attardarsi a tavola
to linger on a subject → dilungarsi su un argomento

linger

(ˈliŋgə) verb

1. to remain, last or continue for a long time or after the expected time. The smell of the bad fish lingered for days.

2. to proceed slowly or delay. We lingered in the hall, looking at the pictures.

linger

v. [to suffer] consumirse, padecer lentamente; [to delay] demorarse.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Let nothing linger after-- No whispering ghost remain, In wall, or beam, or rafter, Of any hate or pain: Cleanse and call home thy spirit, Deny her leave to cast, On aught thy heirs inherit, The shadow of her past.

View in context

One does not linger in the neighbourhood of Reading.

We had intended to push on to Wallingford that day, but the sweet smiling face of the river here lured us to linger for a while; and so we left our boat at the bridge, and went up into Streatley, and lunched at the "Bull," much to Montmorency's satisfaction.

View in context

We linger to weep over a picture, but from the original we should quickly turn our eyes away.

View in context

Life had never brought them a gloomier hour; it was the point whither their pathway had so long been tending, and darkening ever, as it stole along -- and yet it unclosed a charm that made them linger upon it, and claim another, and another, and, after all, another moment.

View in context

But all hands lingered. Even Spider, my crew, lingered.

View in context

If I loitered on the playground after school, or went to the post-office for the mail and lingered to hear the gossip about the cigar-stand, it would be growing dark by the time I came home.

View in context

Aft here, ye sons of bachelors, he cried, as the sailors lingered at the main-mast.

View in context

He lingered for a moment in the doorway to light a cigarette, he even stopped to whisper a few words to the little man in plain dinner clothes who was lounging in the doorway.

View in context

Even when they could separate these objects from the phantoms of the mind which they invoked, the latter only glided out of sight, but lingered near them still; for then they seemed to lurk in closets and behind the doors, ready to start out and suddenly accost them in well-remembered tones.

View in context

It is but a month since they were married, and the rice still lingers in the crevices of the pathway down to the quaint old iron-work gate.

View in context

Perhaps these Odes may best be compared with the little craftless figures in an early age of pottery, when the fragrance of the soil yet lingered about the rough clay.