staying 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

   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
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

   Synonyms:

   remain, stay back, stay put