stay back

• stay behind

Phrasal verb formed with English elements, stay (verb) and back (preposition).

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /steɪˈbæk/
• (Singapore) IPA^(key): /ˈsteɪˈbek̚/

stay back (third-person singular simple present stays back, present participle staying back, simple past and past participle stayed back) (intransitive)

1. 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.'

2. 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.’

   • 2017, Singapore Red‎:

     Other bystanders had noticed him and like Rizby, had kept their distance, but now they began to creep forward to peer at the body. ‘Stay back!’ Rizby yelled. ‘Back! All of you!’

Commonly used in contexts outside of home, though uncommon in newspapers.

• (to remain): See Thesaurus:stay behind or Thesaurus:tarry

• backstay