loiter meaning and examples

Meaning

Loiter means to stand, wait, or move slowly around a place without any clear purpose or reason. It often implies wasting time or behaving suspiciously by lingering somewhere without doing anything specific.

Grammar and Usage

• Part of speech: Verb (intransitive)

• Forms: loiter – loitered – loitered – loitering

• Typical patterns:

  • loiter around (a place) — to hang around somewhere aimlessly.
  • loiter near (something) — to stay close to a location without purpose.
  • loiter outside / in front of / by — to wait idly in that area.

Example structure:

• Someone loiters around the park.
• Teenagers were loitering near the store.

Common Phrases

• loiter around the entrance – stay idly near a door or gate
• loiter on the street – linger on a road without reason
• no loitering – a warning sign meaning “do not hang around here”
• loiter with intent – (legal phrase) stay somewhere with a purpose that suggests possible criminal activity

Collocations

• loiter aimlessly
• loiter suspiciously
• loiter near shops
• loiter outside schools
• signs prohibiting loitering

Examples

1. The security guard told the group not to loiter in front of the store.
2. Teenagers often loiter around the mall after school.
3. A man was loitering near the bus stop for hours.
4. The park ranger asked them not to loiter after dark.
5. There was a no loitering sign posted on the wall.
6. Police questioned a person loitering with intent near the parking lot.
7. He loitered in the hallway, unsure of what to do next.
8. They loitered by the vending machines during lunch break.

Synonyms or Related

• linger
• hang around
• dawdle
• loaf
• idle

Antonym

• hurry
• rush
• proceed
• move on