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.

Lingering

Brooded over … the way a plane caught in a fog hovers longingly over a blurred landing strip —Lynne Sharon Schwartz
(Haven’t you got anything better to do than) hang around here like a prairie dog in heat —line from the movie, Bronco Billy.
Hang around like a rent collector or a man come to fix the faucet —Harvey Swados
Hang around like sullen clouds over the sun —John Ashberry
Hanging around like a fart in a phone box —Australian colloquialism
[An idea] hang over … like a thunderstorm reluctant to break —Gavin Lyall
[The smell of circus lions] hangs like August heat —Delmore Schwartz
Hover like a moth intoxicated with light —John Galsworthy
Hover like butterflies —Lee Smith
Hover over like an ugly bird of prey —Anon
Hung around … like a herd of sheep with no sheep dog —Ignazio Silone
(The Fraziers had refused to leave his mind; they had stayed on,) imposing themselves on his consciousness and his conscience like the troubling memory of a drunken evening —Elizabeth Hardwick
Languish like a mist at noon —Herbert Read
Lingered like heat, like poppy petals, like desert sand —Kay Boyle
Lingered, like smoke after fire —Paul Kuttner
Lingering like an unloved guest —Percy Bysshe Shelley
Lingering like second thoughts —George Bradley
(Light) lingers like a lover’s tongue —Bin Ramke
This simile concludes a poem entitled What the Weather is Like.
Lodged like a marble in a crack —James Crumley
Loitered like a school child —Jean Stafford
(A cold notion flew into my brain and) squatted there like a buzzard, patient, in a tree —George Garrett
Stalling like a Scotchman in front of a pay toilet —Harold Adams

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

lingering - the act of tarrying

tarriance

delay, holdup - the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time

lingering

adjective slow, prolonged, protracted, long-drawn-out, remaining, dragging, persistent He died a lingering death in hospital.

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

lingering

adjective

Of long duration:

chronic, continuing, persistent, prolonged, protracted.

Translations

duraturo esitante persistente

lingering

[ˈlɪŋgərɪŋ] ADJ [smell] → persistente; [doubt] → persistente, que no se desvanece; [look] → fijo; [death] → lento

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

lingering

[ˈlɪŋgərɪŋ] adj

[hope, doubt, feeling] → persistant(e); [effect] → persistant(e); [smell] → persistant(e)

[death] → lent(e)

lingering

adj → lang, ausgedehnt; death → langsam; illness → langwierig, schleppend; doubt → zurückbleibend; look → sehnsüchtig; chords → lange (nach)klingend; kiss → innig; the lovers took a lingering farewell of each other → der Abschied der Liebenden wollte kein Ende nehmen; I’ve still got one lingering doubt → es bleibt noch ein Zweifel (zurück); the customs officer gave him a long lingering look → der Zollbeamte sah ihn lange prüfend an

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

lingering

[ˈlɪŋg/ərɪŋ] adj (smell, doubt) → persistente; (look) → insistente, lungo/a; (death) → lento/a

lingering

v. prolongación, tardanza, morosidad; a. prolongado-a, retardado-a, moroso-a.