Adjacent Words

Delay definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DELAY, v.t.
1. To prolong the time of acting, or proceeding; to put off; to defer.
My lord delayeth his coming. Matthew 14.
2. To retard; to stop, detain or hinder for a time; to restrain motion, or render it slow; as, the mail is delated by bad roads.
Thyrsis, whose artful strains have oft delayed
The huddling brook to hear his madrigal.
3. To allay.
DELAY, v.i. To linger; to move slow; or to stop for a time.
There are certain bounds to the quickness and slowness of the succession of ideas, beyond which they can neither delay nor hasten.
DELAY, n.
1. A lingering; stay; stop.
2. A putting off or deferring; procrastination; as, the delay of trial is not to be imputed to the plaintiff.
3. Hinderance for a time.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: time during which some action is awaited; "instant replay caused too long a delay"; "he ordered a hold in the action" [syn: delay, hold, time lag, postponement, wait]
2: the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time [syn: delay, holdup] v
1: cause to be slowed down or delayed; "Traffic was delayed by the bad weather"; "she delayed the work that she didn't want to perform" [syn: delay, detain, hold up] [ant: hurry, rush]
2: act later than planned, scheduled, or required; "Don't delay your application to graduate school or else it won't be considered"
3: stop or halt; "Please stay the bloodshed!" [syn: stay, detain, delay]
4: slow the growth or development of; "The brain damage will retard the child's language development" [syn: check, retard, delay]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Date: 13th century 1. a. the act of delaying ; the state of being delayed <get started without delay> b. an instance of being delayed 2. the time during which something is delayed <a delay of 30 minutes> II. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French delaier, from de- + laier to leave, from lai-, present and future stem of lesser, laisser to leave, from Latin laxare to slacken, from laxus loose — more at slack Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. put off, postpone <delay a departure> 2. to stop, detain, or hinder for a time <the mails were delayed by heavy snows> 3. to cause to be slower or to occur more slowly than normal <delay a child's development> intransitive verb to move or act slowly; also to cause delay • delayer noun Synonyms: delay, retard, slow, slacken, detain mean to cause to be late or behind in movement or progress. delay implies a holding back, usually by interference, from completion or arrival <bad weather delayed our arrival>. retard suggests reduction of speed without actual stopping <language barriers retarded their progress>. slow and slacken also imply a reduction of speed, slow often suggesting deliberate intention <medication slowed the patient's heart rate>, slacken an easing up or relaxing of power or effort <on hot days runners slacken their pace>. detain implies a holding back beyond a reasonable or appointed time <unexpected business had detained her>. Synonyms: delay, procrastinate, lag, loiter, dawdle, dally mean to move or act slowly so as to fall behind. delay usually implies a putting off (as a beginning or departure) <we cannot delay any longer>. procrastinate implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy <procrastinates about making decisions>. lag implies failure to maintain a speed set by others <lagging behind in technology>. loiter and dawdle imply delay while in progress, especially in walking, but dawdle more clearly suggests an aimless wasting of time <loitered at several store windows> <children dawdling on their way home from school>. dally suggests delay through trifling or vacillation when promptness is necessary <stop dallying and get to work>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 tr. postpone; defer. 2 tr. make late (was delayed at the traffic lights). 3 intr. loiter; be late (don't delay!). --n. 1 the act or an instance of delaying; the process of being delayed. 2 time lost by inaction or the inability to proceed. 3 a hindrance. Phrases and idioms: delayed-action (attrib.) (esp. of a bomb, camera, etc.) operating some time after being primed or set. delay line Electr. a device producing a desired delay in the transmission of a signal. Derivatives: delayer n. Etymology: ME f. OF delayer (v.), delai (n.), prob. f. des- DIS- + laier leave: see RELAY

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Delay De*lay", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Delayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Delaying.] [OF. deleer, delaier, fr. the noun d['e]lai, or directly fr. L. dilatare to enlarge, dilate, in LL., to put off. See Delay, n., and cf. Delate, 1st Defer, Dilate.] 1. To put off; to defer; to procrastinate; to prolong the time of or before. My lord delayeth his coming. --Matt. xxiv. 48. 2. To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time; to retard the motion, or time of arrival, of; as, the mail is delayed by a heavy fall of snow. Thyrsis! whose artful strains have oft delayed The huddling brook to hear his madrigal. --Milton. 3. To allay; to temper. [Obs.] The watery showers delay the raging wind. --Surrey.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Delay De*lay", v. i. To move slowly; to stop for a time; to linger; to tarry. There seem to be certain bounds to the quickness and slowness of the succession of those ideas, . . . beyond which they can neither delay nor hasten. --Locke.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Delay De*lay", n.; pl. Delays. [F. d['e]lai, fr. OF. deleer to delay, or fr. L. dilatum, which, though really from a different root, is used in Latin only as a p. p. neut. of differre to carry apart, defer, delay. See Tolerate, and cf. Differ, Delay, v.] A putting off or deferring; procrastination; lingering inactivity; stop; detention; hindrance. Without any delay, on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat. --Acts xxv. 17. The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day. --Macaulay.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(delays, delaying, delayed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you delay doing something, you do not do it immediately or at the planned or expected time, but you leave it until later. For sentimental reasons I wanted to delay my departure until June... So don't delay, write in now for your chance of a free gift. = postpone VERB: V n/-ing, V 2. To delay someone or something means to make them late or to slow them down. Can you delay him in some way?... The passengers were delayed for an hour. = hold up VERB: V n, V n 3. If you delay, you deliberately take longer than necessary to do something. If he delayed any longer, the sun would be up. VERB: V 4. If there is a delay, something does not happen until later than planned or expected. Although the tests have caused some delay, flights should be back to normal this morning. = hold-up N-VAR 5. Delay is a failure to do something immediately or in the required or usual time. We'll send you a quote without delay.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

de-la': The noun "delay" (Ac 25:17, "I made no delay"; the King James Version "without any delay") means "procrastination." The verb "to delay" (Ex 22:29; 'achar) involves the idea "to stop for a time," the people being admonished not to discontinue a custom. The Pil. perfect of bush (Ex 32:1), "Moses delayed to come," expresses not only the fact that he tarried, but also the disappointment on the part of the people, being under the impression that he possibly was put to shame and had failed in his mission, which also better explains the consequent action of the people. "To delay" (chronizo) is used transitively in Mt 24:48 (the Revised Version (British and American) "My lord tarrieth") and in Lu 12:45. The meaning here is "to prolong," "to defer."

A. L. Breslich

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Defer, postpone, procrastinate, put off, stave off, let lie over. 2. Detain, hinder, retard, stop, impede. II. v. n. Linger, tarry, stop, procrastinate. III. n. 1. Procrastination, postponement, deferring, the Fabian policy, masterly inactivity. 2. Lingering, tarrying, stay, stop, dallying, dawdling. 3. Detention, hindrance, retardation, impediment, stoppage.

Moby Thesaurus

abide, adjourn, afterthought, arrest, arrestation, arrestment, await, backpedal, backwater, be a sideliner, be still, bide, bide the issue, bind, block, blockage, blocking, bog down, bottle up, brake, bureaucratic delay, check, clip the wings, clogging, closing up, closure, coast, confine, constriction, continue, countercheck, cramp, curb, dally, dam up, damp, dampen, dawdle, dawdling, decelerate, deceleration, defer, deferment, deferral, delayage, delayed reaction, detain, detainment, detention, dilly, dillydally, do nothing, double take, drag, drag along, drag out, dragging, draw rein, drift, drone, ease off, ease up, ease-off, ease-up, extend, falter, fixation, flag, flagging, foot-dragging, gap, goof off, halt, hampering, hang about, hang around, hang back, hang fire, hang up, hang-up, hesitate, hiatus, hibernate, hinder, hindering, hindrance, hold back, hold everything, hold in check, hold off, hold on, hold over, hold up, hold your horses, hold-up, holdback, holdup, idle, impede, impediment, inhibit, inhibition, interference, interim, interlude, intermeddle, intermit, interrupt, interruption, interval, intervene, jam, keep, keep back, keep in check, lacuna, lag, lag behind, lagging, lay aside, lay away, lay by, lay over, let, let down, let up, letdown, letup, lie dormant, linger, logjam, loiter, loitering, lollygag, lose ground, lose momentum, lose speed, lull, make late, mark time, meddle, minus acceleration, mire, moderate, moratorium, mull, negativism, not budge, not stir, nuisance value, obstruct, obstruction, obstructionism, occlusion, oppose, opposition, paperasserie, pause, pigeonhole, poke, poke along, postpone, postponement, procrastinate, prolong, prorogate, prorogue, protract, push aside, put aside, put away, put in mothballs, put off, put on ice, recess, red tape, red-tapeism, red-tapery, reef, rein in, relax, repress, repression, reprieve, reserve, resist, resistance, respite, rest, restrain, restraint, restriction, retard, retardance, retardation, retardment, scotch, set aside, set back, set by, setback, shelve, shift off, shilly-shally, shilly-shallying, sideline, sit back, sit it out, sit tight, sit up, slack off, slack up, slack-up, slacken, slackening, sleep on, slow, slow down, slow up, slow-up, slowdown, slowing, slowing down, slowness, slowup, snub, squeeze, stagnate, stall, stand over, stave off, stay, stay of execution, stay up, stick around, stop, stoppage, store, stow, stranglehold, stretch out, stricture, suppress, suppression, suspend, suspension, table, table the motion, take a recess, take in sail, take time, tarry, tarrying, temporize, throttle down, tie-up, time lag, trail, vacillate, vegetate, wait, wait a minute, wait and see, waiting, waive, waste time, watch and wait, waver