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Linger vs Last - What's the difference?

linger | last |

As verbs the difference between linger and last

is that linger is to stay or remain in a place or situation, especially as if unwilling to depart or not easily able to do so while last is .

linger

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To stay or remain in a place or situation, especially as if unwilling to depart or not easily able to do so.
  • * 1859 , , A Tale of Two Cities , ch. 15:
  • His tone lingered in the air, almost like the tone of a musical instrument.
  • * 1891 , , "Mrs. Manstey's View":
  • She lingered in the window.
  • * 2011 April 25, Alice Park, " Upgrading the Disaster," Time :
  • It takes into account . . . predictions of how long radioactive contaminants will linger in the soil and water near the nuclear facility.
  • To remain alive or existent although still proceeding toward death or extinction; to die gradually.
  • * 1887 , , The Woodlanders , ch. 14:
  • He lingered through the day, and died that evening as the sun went down.
  • * 1904 , , "Asmund and Signy" in The Brown Fairy Book :
  • During his absence the queen fell ill, and after lingering for some time she died.
  • (often followed by on) To consider or contemplate for a period of time; to engage in analytical thinking or discussion.
  • * 2011 April 14, Michael Scherer, " Trump's Political Reality Show: Will the Donald Really Run for President?," Time :
  • Trump doesn't linger on the poll.

    Derived terms

    * lingerer * linger on

    last

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), (m), syncopated variant of (m), from (etyl) latost, (m), , whence English (l).

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind.
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.}}
  • Most recent, latest, last so far.
  • * {{quote-magazine, title=No hiding place
  • , date=2013-05-25, volume=407, issue=8837, page=74, magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year.}}
  • Farthest of all from a given quality, character, or condition; most unlikely, or least preferable.
  • He is the last person to be accused of theft.
  • Being the only one remaining of its class.
  • Supreme; highest in degree; utmost.
  • * R. Hall
  • Contending for principles of the last importance.
  • Lowest in rank or degree.
  • the last prize
    (Alexander Pope)
    Synonyms
    * (final) at the end, caboose, final, tail end, terminal, ultimate * (most recent) latest, most recent
    Derived terms
    * last word * nice guys finish last

    Determiner

    (en determiner)
  • The (one) immediately before the present.
  • Last night the moon was full.
    We went there last year.
    Last Tuesday was Hallowe'en.
    Last time we talked about this was in January.
  • (of a, day of the week) Closest to seven days (one week) ago.
  • It's Wednesday, and the party was last Tuesday; that is, not yesterday, but eight days ago.
    Usage notes
    * (both senses) This cannot be used in past or future tense to refer to a time immediately before the subject matter. For example, one does not say or the like.

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Most recently.
  • When we last met, he was based in Toronto.
  • * Shakespeare
  • How long is't now since last yourself and I / Were in a mask?
  • (sequence) after everything else; finally
  • I'll go last .
    last but not least
  • * Dryden
  • Pleased with his idol, he commends, admires, / Adores; and, last , the thing adored desires.
    Synonyms
    * finally * lastly

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To perform, carry out.
  • (label) To endure, continue over time.
  • :
  • :
  • *
  • *:Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor;.
  • (label) To hold out, continue undefeated or entire.
  • :
  • Synonyms
    * continue * endure * survive
    Antonyms
    * disintegrate * dissipate * fall apart * wear out

    Etymology 3

    (etyl) .

    Noun

    (wikipedia last) (en noun)
  • a tool for shaping or preserving the shape of shoes
  • * 2006, Newman, Cathy, Every Shoe Tells a Story , National Geographic (September, 2006), 83,
  • How is an in-your-face black leather thigh-high lace-up boot with a four-inch spike heel like a man's black calf lace-up oxford? They are both made on a last , the wood or plastic foot-shaped form that leather is stretched over and shaped to make a shoe.
    Derived terms
    *

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To shape with a last; to fasten or fit to a last; to place smoothly on a last.
  • to last a boot

    Etymology 4

    From (etyl) last, from (etyl) , (etyl) last, (etyl) Last, (etyl) last, (etyl) lest.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A burden; load; a cargo; freight.
  • (obsolete) A measure of weight or quantity, varying in designation depending on the goods concerned.
  • * 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, p. 114:
  • Now we so quietly followed our businesse, that in three moneths wee made three or foure Last of Tarre, Pitch, and Sope ashes [...].
  • * 1866 , James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England , Volume 1, page 169,
  • The last of wool is twelve sacks.
  • (obsolete) An old English (and Dutch) measure of the carrying capacity of a ship, equal to two tons.
  • * 1942 (1601) , T D Mutch, The First Discovery of Australia , page 14,
  • The tonnage of the of Harmensz's fleet is given as 25 and 30 lasten .
  • A load of some commodity with reference to its weight and commercial value.
  • Statistics

    *