Lingering

[ling-ger]

verb (used without object)
1.
to remain or stay on in a place longer than is usual or expected, as if from reluctance to leave:
We lingered awhile after the party.
2.
to remain alive; continue or persist, although gradually dying, ceasing, disappearing, etc.:
She lingered a few months after the heart attack. Such practices still linger among the older natives.
3.
to dwell in contemplation, thought, or enjoyment:
to linger over the beauty of a painting.
4.
to be tardy in action; delay; dawdle:
to linger in discharging one’s duties.
5.
to walk slowly; saunter along.
verb (used with object)
6.
to pass (time, life, etc.) in a leisurely or a tedious manner (usually followed by away or out):
We lingered away the whole summer at the beach.
7.
Archaic. to draw out or protract.
/ˈlɪŋɡə/
verb (mainly intransitive)
1.
to delay or prolong departure
2.
to go in a slow or leisurely manner; saunter
3.
to remain just alive for some time prior to death
4.
to persist or continue, esp in the mind
5.
to be slow to act; dither; procrastinate
v.

c.1300, lenger “reside, dwell,” northern England frequentative of lengen “to tarry,” from Old English lengan “prolong, lengthen,” from Proto-Germanic *langjan “to make long” (cf. Old Frisian lendza, Old High German lengan, Dutch lengen “to lengthen”), source of Old English lang (see long (adj.)). Sense of “delay going, depart slowly and unwillingly” is from 1520s. Related: Lingered; lingering.