lingering
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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.
2.
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
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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| Noun | 1. | lingering - the act of tarrying |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
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
adjectiveOf long duration:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
lingering
[ˈlɪŋgərɪŋ] ADJ [smell] → persistente; [doubt] → persistente, que no se desvanece; [look] → fijo; [death] → lentoCollins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
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/aCollins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
lingering
v. prolongación, tardanza, morosidad; a. prolongado-a, retardado-a, moroso-a.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012