stay behind

Verb

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

1. (idiomatic) 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).2005, Al Kelly, Challenging Modern Physics: Questioning Einstein's Relativity Theories, page 24
   • Much as Tra wanted to stay behind, as commander of the region, it was his duty to organize and lead the troops going to the North.2007, David W. P. Elliott, The Vietnamese War: Revolution and Social Change in the Mekong Delta, 1930-1975, page 91

   Synonyms:

   stay back, stay put

2. (idiomatic) 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.1964, Paul Keres, Alexander Kotov, translated by Harry Golombek, The Art of the Middle Game, Dover, published 1989, page 32
   • Observe what sanctions the teacher employs with her class in order to enforce the rules. Are individuals kept in after school, for instance, or are they asked to stay behind at the end of a lesson, or reprimanded in front of the other children?1996, Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison, A Guide to Teaching Practice, page 51
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see stay, behind.
   • If you can, sprint ahead and stay ahead — otherwise slow down and stay well behind1993, John Forester, Effective Cycling, 6th edition, page 393
   • Children who are in any way below standard come into this class from all the other classes.
     Otherwise, as I have said, we do not let the children stay behind but we try to bring them along with us under all circumstances, so that in this way each child really receives what is right for his or her...1995, Rudolf Steiner, Helen Fox (original translator), revising translator not named, Lecture 7, The Kingdom of Childhood, Revised Translation, page 120

   Synonyms:

   remain, stay back, stay put