How to Use loiter in a Sentence

loiter

verb
  • Loitering is prohibited outside the theaters.
  • Models rush and loiter in robes and hair clips.
    — Nathan Heller, Vogue, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Some droplets seemed to loiter in the air, to be depicted as mist.
    — Martin Weil, Washington Post, 27 Nov. 2023
  • But the Mets are still loitering, in spite of all those broken backs.
    — Paul Sullivan, chicagotribune.com, 8 Sep. 2019
  • Authorities said the men are known to loiter around banks and bus stops near banks.
    — Hannah Fry, Daily Pilot, 9 May 2017
  • Schwartz was charged with loitering in a drug house and giving false name to police.
    — Leada Gore | [email protected], al, 21 Oct. 2019
  • Two men in T-shirts, who had been loitering for hours, followed him.
    — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 13 June 2025
  • But what if ships could launch airborne radar systems that would loiter overhead?
    — Michael Peck, Forbes, 17 June 2021
  • There, the crop continued to grow while white-faced ibis and killdeer birds loitered around the water.
    — Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2025
  • He was seen loitering near scooters and using a sharp object to cut wires.
    — Tribune News Service, oregonlive, 1 Oct. 2019
  • Among other tricks, the cameras can tell if someone is loitering in an area for too long.
    — Arthur Holland Michel, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2023
  • My problem is one neighbor who loiters with her dog at the spot where the alley that runs past my house meets the street.
    — Annie Lane, oregonlive, 21 June 2023
  • Nobody knows for sure how many of these bike-share bicycles are loitering in the streets right now.
    — NBC News, 16 Apr. 2018
  • Many of them would discuss an episode the next day at work, while loitering around the water cooler.
    — Washington Post, 23 Dec. 2019
  • Blankenship was charged with loitering in a drug house and placed in jail on a $500 bond.
    — Jonece Starr Dunigan, AL.com, 4 Oct. 2017
  • Today, youths loiter at these entrances with cell phones to send an alert if police or strangers enter.
    — Washington Post, 3 July 2018
  • Don’t loiter here or come back later, Or the god’s staff and chaplet won’t protect you.
    — Sarah Ruden, National Review, 31 Mar. 2022
  • Suddenly three hours are gone and the fans are loitering around each chef’s station, ready to get their grub on.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2026
  • There aren’t many false notes, but the imaginative scope is somewhat hemmed in by scenes that loiter rather than leap.
    — Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 29 June 2018
  • Some will be designed to loiter at altitude while waiting for a target to emerge.
    — The Economist, 25 Jan. 2018
  • One of the most useful things about drones is their ability to tirelessly loiter for hours at a time.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 2 Mar. 2017
  • Fare evaders hopped the gates and loitered at the top of the Metro station escalators.
    — Michael Brice-Saddler, Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2023
  • Barrera angled a low shot to the box at Christian, who was loitering just above the goal box.
    — Mark Billingsley, sacbee.com, 20 May 2017
  • The goal is to reduce crime and loitering at stations through this initiative.
    — City News Service, Daily News, 29 May 2026
  • After 15 minutes of loitering outside, the bear moved on and walked away from the house.
    — Kirsty Hatcher, Peoplemag, 29 Nov. 2023
  • The practices take place most weekdays after school, and a few of the players' classmates loitered on the sideline.
    — Max Marshall, SI.com, 26 June 2019
  • That is partly because of people like me, who wander the streets and loiter in the queues with the same badges as everyone else.
    — A.o. Scott, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2017
  • For months, vehicles loitered at his curb as drivers gaped at the framework, then the drywall, then the complete house.
    — Lizzie Johnson, SFChronicle.com, 30 June 2018
  • Burros loiter in the middle of the street and collect handouts from travelers.
    — Roger Naylor, azcentral, 12 Dec. 2019
  • Daisy doesn’t have to spend too much time loitering in downtown Toronto before Gilead makes its move.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 6 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'loiter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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