stay behind
English · Thesaurus
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stay behind
noun stay behinds
- Alternative form of stay-behind Pleasant prospect for us, who are sure to be amongst the unlucky stay behinds!
verb stays behind · staying behind · stayed behind
- To remain where one is, whilst others leave. If a twin goes off on a spaceship for a long trip at nearly the speed of light, that twin would be much younger on return to earth than the twin who stayed behind (Fock, 1964; French, 1968; Hawking, 1988; Young, 1992).
- To remain in a classroom or school at the end of teaching, especially to receive punishment. When I stayed behind at school with my school friends after lessons, and managed to play up to a hundred games in a single afternoon, the strategy was simple enough: I castled on the opposite side in the middle of violent (and mutual) King attacks.
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Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see stay, behind.
If you can, sprint ahead and stay ahead — otherwise slow down and stay well behind
Similar: remain, stay back, stay behind, stay put
Opposite: leave
Thesaurus
verb
Opposite: leave
Translations
Every language
verb to remain where one is, whilst others leave
| Português | ficar para trás |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | zurückbleiben |
| Русский | остава́ться ostavátʹsja, оста́ться ostátʹsja, заде́рживаться zadérživatʹsja, задержа́ться zaderžátʹsja |
verb to remain in a classroom or school at the end of teaching, especially to receive punishment
| Français | avoir une heure de colle |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | nachsitzen |
| Русский | остава́ться ostavátʹsja, оста́ться ostátʹsja |
Talk about this word "stay behind." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/stay%20behind. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. stay behind. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/stay%20behind "stay behind." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/stay%20behind.Cite this
@misc{stay_behind_2026,
title = {stay behind},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/stay%20behind},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
