# linger

Pronunciation: US say "LING-gur" /ˈlɪŋɡɚ/; UK say "LING-guh" /ˈlɪŋɡə/

## Verb

1. To stay or remain in a place or situation longer than expected, often as if unwilling or unable to leave.
   - Simple: To stay in a place longer than needed, often because you do not want to leave.
   - _Tourists tend to linger by the fountain, reluctant to move on._
   - _A faint perfume lingered in the hallway long after she had gone._
2. To remain alive or existent while still moving toward death or extinction; to die by slow degrees.
   - Simple: To stay alive for a long time while slowly getting closer to death.
   - _Patients with the disease may linger long after recovery seems impossible._
   - _He lingered for months after the diagnosis, growing weaker each day._
3. To dwell on a subject in thought or discussion, considering it for an extended period of time.
   - Simple: To keep thinking carefully about something for a while instead of moving on.
   - _Let us linger a moment on this point before moving on._
   - _Her mind lingered on the strange remark for the rest of the evening._

## Origin

From Middle English lengeren, a frequentative of lengen ("to stay, dwell, tarry"), from Old English lenġan ("to lengthen, delay, extend"), going back to Proto-Germanic *langijaną. It is related to the root of English 'long', with cognates like Dutch lengen and German längen.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/linger (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).