From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlanguishlan‧guish /ˈlæŋɡwɪʃ/ verb [intransitive] 1 STAY/NOT LEAVEif someone languishes somewhere, they are forced to remain in a place where they are unhappylanguish in Shaw languished in jail for fifteen years.2 FAILif something languishes, it fails to improve and develop or become successful → founder OPP flourish The housing market continues to languish. The shares are languishing at just 46p after yesterday’s fall. West Ham United are currently languishing at the bottom of the league.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
languish in• Tran spend five long years languishing in refugee camps.• The case has languished in the courts for years.Origin languish (1300-1400) French languir, from Latin languere 