Adjacent Words

Linger definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LIN'GER, v.i.
1. To delay; to loiter; to remain or wait long; to be slow.
Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind.
Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not. 2 Peter 2.
2. To hesitate; to be slow in deciding; to be in suspense.
Perhaps thou lingerest, in deep thought detained.
3. To remain long in any state. The patient lingers on a bed of sickness.
LIN'GER, v.t. To protract.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: remain present although waning or gradually dying; "Her perfume lingered on"
2: be about; "The high school students like to loiter in the Central Square"; "Who is this man that is hanging around the department?" [syn: loiter, lounge, footle, lollygag, loaf, lallygag, hang around, mess about, tarry, linger, lurk, mill about, mill around]
3: leave slowly and hesitantly [syn: tarry, linger]
4: take one's time; proceed slowly [syn: linger, dawdle] [ant: belt along, bucket along, cannonball along, hasten, hie, hotfoot, pelt along, race, rush, rush along, speed, step on it]
5: move to and fro; "The shy student lingered in the corner" [syn: hover, linger]

Merriam Webster's

verb (lingered; lingering) Etymology: Middle English (northern dialect) lengeren to dwell, frequentative of lengen to prolong, from Old English lengan; akin to Old English lang long Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. to be slow in parting or in quitting something ; tarry <fans lingered outside the door> 2. a. to remain alive although gradually dying b. to remain existent although often waning in strength, importance, or influence <lingering doubts> <lingering odors> 3. to be slow to act ; procrastinate 4. to move slowly ; saunter transitive verb 1. obsolete delay 2. to pass (as a period of time) slowly • lingerer noun • lingeringly adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.intr. 1 a be slow or reluctant to depart. b stay about. c (foll. by over, on, etc.) dally (lingered over dinner; lingered on what they said). 2 (esp. of an illness) be protracted. 3 (foll. by on) (of a dying person or custom) be slow in dying; drag on feebly. Derivatives: lingerer n. lingeringly adv. Etymology: ME lenger, frequent. of leng f. OE lengan f. Gmc, rel. to LENGTHEN

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Linger Lin"ger (l[i^][ng]"g[~e]r), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Lingered (-g[~e]rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Lingering.] [OE. lengen to tarry, AS. lengan to prolong, put off, fr. lang long. [root]125. See Long, a.] To delay; to loiter; to remain or wait long; to be slow or reluctant in parting or moving; to be slow in deciding; to be in suspense; to hesitate. Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind. --Gray. Perhaps thou linger'st, in deep thoughts detained. --Milton. Syn: To loiter; lag; saunter; delay; tarry; stop; hesitate.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Linger Lin"ger, v. t. 1. To protract; to draw out. [Obs.] She lingers my desires. --Shak. 2. To spend or pass in a lingering manner; -- with out; as, to linger out one's days on a sick bed. --Dryden.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(lingers, lingering, lingered) 1. When something such as an idea, feeling, or illness lingers, it continues to exist for a long time, often much longer than expected. The scent of her perfume lingered on in the room... He was ashamed. That feeling lingered, and he was never comfortable in church after that... He would rather be killed in a race than die a lingering death in hospital. VERB: V adv/prep, V, V-ing 2. If you linger somewhere, you stay there for a longer time than is necessary, for example because you are enjoying yourself. Customers are welcome to linger over coffee until around midnight... It is a dreary little town where few would choose to linger. VERB: V adv/prep, V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Loiter, delay, tarry, lag, saunter, be slow, wait long, remain long.

Moby Thesaurus

abide, amble, await, bide, bide the issue, carry on, cease not, continue, crawl, creep, dally, dawdle, delay, diddle, dillydally, dither, doodle, drag, drag along, drag on, drift, dwell on, elaborate, endure, fall behind, falter, flag, get behind, go along, go on, goof off, halt, hang about, hang around, hang back, hang on, harp on, hold everything, hold on, hold steady, hold your horses, idle, jog on, keep going, keep on, labor, lag, linger behind, linger on, loiter, lollygag, mark time, mope, mosey, muck, never cease, pause, persevere, persist, piddle, poke, procrastinate, put off, remain, run on, shilly-shally, sit tight, sit up, slog on, stagger on, stay, stay on, stay up, stick around, straggle, stroll, survive, take time, tarry, temporize, trail, trail behind, wait, wait a minute, wait and see, waste time, wear on