See stay in American Heritage Dictionary 4 Synonyms
stay 1remain wait abide tarry 1linger 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
defer1.
See stay in Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus II
verb
To continue to be in a place:
abide, bide, linger, remain, tarry, wait. (Informal) stick around. Idiom: stay put. See continueTo be in existence or in a certain state for an indefinitely long time:
abide, continue, endure, go on, hold out, last2, persist, remain. See continueTo remain as a guest or lodger:
lodge, sojourn, visit. See placeTo stop temporarily and remain, as if reluctant to leave:
abide, bide, linger, pause, tarry, wait. See continueTo prevent the occurrence or continuation of a movement, action, or operation:
arrest, belay, cease, check, discontinue, halt1, stall1, stop, surcease. Idioms: bring to a standstill, call a halt to, put a stop to. See continueTo put off until a later time:
adjourn, defer1, delay, hold off, hold up, postpone, remit, shelve, suspend, table, waive. (Informal) wait. Idiom: put on ice. See do
phrasal verb stay withTo persevere in some condition, action, or belief:
keep, maintain, retain. See continue
noun
The act of stopping:
cessation, check, cut-off, discontinuance, discontinuation, halt1, stop, stoppage, surcease. See continueA remaining in a place as a guest or lodger:
sojourn, visit. See placeThe act of putting off or the condition of being put off:
adjournment, deferment, deferral, delay, postponement, suspension, waiver. See time
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