Dic: linger and its synonyms

• 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.
• Customers are welcome to linger over coffee until around midnight.
• It is a dreary little town where few would choose to linger.

1. VERB | When something such as an idea, feeling, or illness lingers, it continues to exist for a long time, often much longer than expected.

2. VERB | If you linger somewhere, you stay there for a longer time than is necessary, for example because you are enjoying yourself.

..... Cobuild

※ Synonyms: Stay(1), Remain, Wait, Abide, Tarry(1), Linger, Sojourn

These verbs mean to continue to be in a given place.

• Stay is the least specific, though it can also suggest that the person involved is a guest or visitor:
  .... "Must you go? Can't you stay?" (Charles J. Vaughan).
• Remain often implies continuing or being left after others have gone:
  .... I remained at the end of the meeting to talk to the speaker.
• Wait suggests remaining in readiness, anticipation, or expectation:
  .... "Your father is waiting for me to take a walk with him" (Booth Tarkington).
• Abide implies continuing for a lengthy period:
  .... "Abide with me" (Henry Francis Lyte).
• Tarry and linger both imply a delayed departure, but linger more strongly suggests reluctance to leave:
  .... "She was not anxious but puzzled that her husband tarried" (Eden Phillpotts).
  .... "I alone sit lingering here" (Henry Vaughan).
• To sojourn is to reside temporarily in a place:
  .... "He was sojourning at [a] hotel in Bond Street" (Anthony Trollope).
  
  See Also Synonyms at defer(1).
  

.... The American Heritage