remain

/rɪˈmeɪn/

/rɛˈmeɪn/

Other forms: remained; remains; remaining

To remain is to stay in the same place or situation. You can remain at home instead of going out to the movies with your friends, but that doesn't mean you won't remain friends.

If things remain the same, they don't change, and if your family remains in the same town, they don't move. When something is left behind, it also remains: "All that remains of my party is a bunch of deflated balloons." In the fifteenth century, remain was a noun too, meaning "people or things left over or surviving." Today we use remainder instead.

Definitions of remain

1. verb

   continue in a place, position, or situation
   “despite student protests, he remained Dean for another year”

   synonyms: continue, stay, stay on

   types:

   abide, bide, stay

   dwell

   hold over

   continue a term of office past the normal period of time

   visit

   stay with as a guest

   outstay, overstay

   stay too long

   type of:

   be

   have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
2. verb

   stay the same; remain in a certain state
   “The dress remained wet after repeated attempts to dry it”

   “He remained unmoved by her tears”

   synonyms: rest, stay

   types:

   keep out

   remain outside

   sit tight

   maintain the same position; wait it out

   stay together, stick together

   be loyal to one another, especially in times of trouble

   stand

   remain inactive or immobile

   keep, stay fresh

   fail to spoil or rot

   be

   to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted -- used only in infinitive form

   type of:

   be

   have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
3. verb

   be left; of persons, questions, problems, results, evidence, etc.
   “There remains the question of who pulled the trigger”

   “Carter remains the only President in recent history under whose Presidency the U.S. did not fight a war”

   type of:

   be

   have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
4. verb

   stay behind
   “The hostility remained long after they made up”

   synonyms: persist, stay

   types:

   stick

   endure

   linger

   remain present although waning or gradually dying