stay back
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Phrasal verb formed with English elements, stay (verb) and back (preposition).
Verb
- To remain (at work, school, organisation, country, etc.) after normal hours
- 2009, India Fever: The New Indian Professional in Singapore, page 106:
- Many of these students, in fact, do stay back and work in Singapore after their studies are over.
- 2011, Crisis Management and Public Policy: Singapore's Approach to Economic Resilience:
- When parents are late, childcare workers have to stay back late to take care of the children.
- 2011, My Kiasu Teenage Life in Singapore:
- Mr Como was quite displeased and he told me to stay back tomorrow and do it.
- 2012, A Sociolinguistic History of Early Identities in Singapore: From Colonialism to Nationalism, page 155:
- When caught for breaking the language rule, the punishment was to stay back in school and write lines of repentance for his wrongdoing: but in the school fields and canteens, Leow noted that, “students chattered in Mandarin and Hokkien as they wished with nobody to stop them.”
- 2016, Singapore Teachers: Narratives of Care, Hope and Commitment, page 66:
- 'The monitoring system would require Hock to stay back after school until 5 pm everyday to catch up on his school, have one of the discipline teachers to acknowledge the time he returned home.'
- 2016, Singapore Eurasians: Memories, Hopes and Dreams, page 108:
- 'Of course, if we didn’t finish our work we had to stay back, and there was no such thing as overtime.
- 2017, Angelia Poon; Angus Whitehead, editors, Singapore Literature and Culture: Current Directions in Local and Global Contexts, page 259:
- 'Because my stupid father thought it would be good for me to stay back and serve NS. he actually insisted that I do it.'
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- To keep one's distance from a place, often because of some danger.
- 2011, Her Singapore Fling, page 166:
- 'Sir, you have to get back,' said a uniformed voice, an ambulance officer this time. 'We're asking everybody to stay back.' 'I live here,' he said. 'With my wife and my boy. Have you seen them?'
- 2017, Beneath the Lion City: Irreal Stories of Singapore, page 68:
- ‘No, no, no. You stay back there. I don’t want you anywhere near me.’
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Usage notes
Commonly used in contexts outside of home, though uncommon in newspapers.
Synonyms
- (to remain): See Thesaurus:stay behind or Thesaurus:tarry
Translations
to remain (at work, school, organisation, country, etc.) after normal hours
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to keep one's distance from a place, often because of some danger
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Anagrams
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