<p>loiter ; linger </p>
<p>I think they have sth to do with ''wasting one`s time ‘’ but can you help me understand exactly what they mean ?</p>
<p>Loiter means…lurking around, often suspiciously.
Linger means to hang around…for example the smell lingered on her clothes.
Check the dictionary for exact definitions.
They do not necessarily “waste one’s time” though.</p>
<p>Yes,but are these two words synonims ?</p>
<p>no 10cchaarrrrrrrr</p>
<p>No, the words aren’t synonyms. People are loitering if they are hanging out on a street corner and interfering with the flow of pedestrian traffic, while talking, smoking, pitching pennies, or doing nothing at all. People are lingering if they are remaining somewhere a little longer than is really necessary, to prolong a pleasant experience. For instance, people might linger, having coffee after dinner in a restaurant. On the other hand, regrets can also be described as lingering. I’ve never heard of regrets “loitering.” That would be an amusing poetic usage.</p>
<p>loiter: To stand about without any aim or purpose; to stand about idly; to linger; to hang around</p>
<p>linger: To stay or remain</p>
<p>Hope that helped ^^. And, yep, they’re synonyms.</p>
<p>P.S. Shouldn’t it be “are” in the title, seeing as you’re referring to a plural?</p>
<p>After looking at the post by python38, I checked the definitions in two dictionaries. Merriam-Webster doesn’t use either word to define the other. However, the Oxford English dictionary does use linger in the definition of loiter and vice versa. Certainly the words are much closer to being synonyms than to being antonyms. If the OP wants to claim that they are synonyms, I can’t contradict the OED. I retract my previous post, it’s ok to claim that. But if the OP is working on a story or essay, the two words shouldn’t be regarded as interchangeable–the differences in the connotations should be noted.</p>
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<p>No. The subject of the question is “meaning,” which is a singular noun. “Are” would be used if the title of the post was “What are the meanings of these verbs?”</p>
<p>^Thanks. I really need to brush up on my grammar, lol.</p>
<p>And I used the Google define tool to find the meanings of the words - which I believe are taken from online dictionaries.</p>
<p>python38 ,the best English dictionary is ‘‘Londman dictionary of contemporary English’’</p>
<p>Well, the Google tool’s free, you see, which is why I use it :). It’s difficult to find a comprehensive, reasonably cheap, paper dictionary, so I just stick to online tools.</p>