delay
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
the act of delaying; procrastination.
- Synonyms:
- loitering
-
an instance of being delayed.
There were many delays during the train trip.
-
the period or amount of time during which something is delayed.
The ballet performance began after a half-hour delay.
verb
-
(tr) to put off to a later time; defer
-
(tr) to slow up, hinder, or cause to be late; detain
-
(intr) to be irresolute or put off doing something; procrastinate
-
(intr) to linger; dawdle
noun
-
the act or an instance of delaying or being delayed
-
the interval between one event and another; lull; interlude
Usage
What does delay mean? As a verb, delay means to put something off or postpone it until later, or to cause something to take longer or to be late.As a noun, delay means an instance of something being postponed till later, or the amount of time between when something was supposed to happen and when it does happen (the lull or interlude).Example: The convention has not been canceled—it has been delayed until we can find a proper venue.
Related Words
See defer 1.
Other Word Forms
- delayable adjective
- delayer noun
- delayingly adverb
- predelay noun
- undelayable adjective
- undelaying adjective
- undelayingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of delay
First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English delaien (verb), delai(e) (noun), from Old French delaier (verb), delai (noun)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In his Dec. 8 letter “Our Self-Driving Future Isn’t Decades Away,” Samuel Hammond writes that the deployment of self-driving cars is “delayed” in Washington because I demanded that the city “study it further.”
Ministers have now asked all 63 councils affected by the reorganisation that are due to hold elections in May to say whether they require a delay.
From BBC
Coming as it did on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic, the soaring prices and supply chain delays felt like a body blow.
From Salon
Forced to delay his flight home scheduled for the next day, Mr Mendelson said when he was discharged from hospital he was ordered by hotel staff to pay a fee for the extra night's stay.
From BBC
The £6.3bn programme has been beset by problems and repeated delays, as noise and vibration have injured soldiers who have tested the vehicles.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
