as in to delay
to move or act slowly
since they were charging by the hour, the house painters lingered in finishing up their work
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of linger
Wiggins was hard on himself after Game 3, stopping short of blaming his recent struggles on any lingering effects from the ankle or hamstring injuries that forced him to miss time toward the end of the regular season.
—
Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 27 Apr. 2025
Some gaze directly at the viewer and others are walking away or obscured, as if lost, forgotten, or lingering between worlds.
—Natasha Gural, Forbes.com, 26 Apr. 2025
But the mystery of who may have killed Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe on a frigid night in Canton lingers as jurors visited the house near where his body was found.
—Jean Casarez, CNN Money, 25 Apr. 2025
And though a few dozen people left the dinner early to catch the end or start of various performances, which included Charli XCX and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, about half of the long table lingered after dessert to continue chatting with their tablemates.
—Ye Fan, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for linger
Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 27 Apr. 2025
Some gaze directly at the viewer and others are walking away or obscured, as if lost, forgotten, or lingering between worlds.
—Natasha Gural, Forbes.com, 26 Apr. 2025
But the mystery of who may have killed Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe on a frigid night in Canton lingers as jurors visited the house near where his body was found.
—Jean Casarez, CNN Money, 25 Apr. 2025
And though a few dozen people left the dinner early to catch the end or start of various performances, which included Charli XCX and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, about half of the long table lingered after dessert to continue chatting with their tablemates.
—Ye Fan, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for linger
Recent Examples of Synonyms for linger
Verb
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There's also great uncertainty as Trump seeks negotiations with China and begins talks with other counties whose larger tariffs were delayed by 90 days.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
21 Apr. 2025
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Research suggests that females who have autism are more likely to use this strategy, which can lead to a mismatch between the internal experience and the external behavior—and may play a role in delaying diagnosis.1 4.—
Heidi Moawad, MD,
Verywell Health,
18 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Freya crawled on top of her, interrupting the seizure.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
27 Apr. 2025
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Continue to update your site with new, high-quality blogs, and search engines will more frequently crawl your site.—
Tonia Ryan,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Antetokounmpo poked the ball away from Nembhard briefly and a scramble ensued, but the Pacers came up with the ball.—
Eric Nehm,
New York Times,
20 Apr. 2025
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Amy Schumer also took to Instagram to poke fun at the mission, jokingly revealing she had been chosen to be part of the crew at the last minute.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
19 Apr. 2025
Verb
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On the flip side, Jamal Murray dragged the Clippers for 43 points.—
Law Murray,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
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The officers then dragged Feliz out of his car, pulling his pants down and exposing his genitals in the process.—
Lourdes Rosado,
New York Daily News,
30 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Meanwhile, until late 2024, there was only one U.S. supplier of loitering munitions (suicide drones designed to loiter in an area and locate and strike targets with precision): AeroVironment, which has a contract to make 1,000 of them.—
MICHAEL BROWN,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Apr. 2025
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To stay out late in Zink’s world, loitering, is a pleasure.—
Dwight Garner,
New York Times,
24 Mar. 2025
Verb
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For a more cushioned New Balance option, consider the Fresh Foam 1080s, which Glamour contributor and marathoner Jenny McCoy swears by for both long-distance running and casual neighborhood strolling.—
Malia Griggs,
Glamour,
1 May 2025
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His goal was to capture that throwback feeling of aimless summer days strolling down the boardwalk with the frozen snack in hand in his Lemon Italian Ice flavor.—
Rachel Chang,
Travel + Leisure,
26 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Linger.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/linger. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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