delay
Americanverb (used with object)
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delays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
delayed,
past participle, past
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delaying
present participle
verb (used without object)
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delays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
delayed,
past participle, past
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delaying
present participle
noun
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delays
plural
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the act of delaying; procrastination.
- Synonyms:
- loitering
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an instance of being delayed.
There were many delays during the train trip.
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the period or amount of time during which something is delayed.
The ballet performance began after a half-hour delay.
verb
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(tr) to put off to a later time; defer
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(tr) to slow up, hinder, or cause to be late; detain
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(intr) to be irresolute or put off doing something; procrastinate
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(intr) to linger; dawdle
noun
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the act or an instance of delaying or being delayed
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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.
Synonym Usage
See defer 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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delayernoun
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predelaynoun
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delayableadjective
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undelayableadjective
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undelayingadjective
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delayinglyadverb
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undelayinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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delaysimple
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delayssimple
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have delayedperfect
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has delayedperfect
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am delayingprogressive
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are delayingprogressive
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is delayingprogressive
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have been delayingperfect progressive
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has been delayingperfect progressive
Past
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delayedsimple
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had delayedperfect
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was delayingprogressive
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were delayingprogressive
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had been delayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of delay
First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English delaien (verb), delai(e) (noun), from Old French delaier (verb), delai (noun)
Explanation
A delay is a wait or a postponement. An unexpected delay before the start of a play might make the audience restless and noisy. During a delay, you have to wait around for things to begin. Delay is also a verb: "That burnt pizza is going to delay dinner for at least another hour." You can also delay by loitering or hanging around: "The performer always delays when he's nervous about singing in front of a crowd." Delay comes from the Old French delaiier, from the roots de-, "not," and laier, "leave."
Vocabulary lists containing delay
Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 3
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Greetings, World Traveler! — List 2
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"Building Design and Construction Handbook," Vocabulary from Section 1
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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.
See Examples For:
The delay meant half of “60 Minutes” competed with NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” the most-watched TV program of the week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
That said, Goodman said that for people with more limited savings, if they have to spend down principal in order to delay, that might be limiting.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
He has suggested that OpenAI may need to delay its much-anticipated initial public offering to focus on safety.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Do Delo and Harborne clear them, and if they don't, for how long could that delay Reform getting hold of their vast sums of money?
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
If I stopped someone to ask them a question, and that thirty-second delay caused them to accidentally get taken out by a runaway horse or something, I could completely alter history.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
An air valve had malfunctioned, according to the complaint, but Kettle refused to approve a fix afterwards because it would have led to train delays at Union Station.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
To deal with shortfalls and delays, the Pentagon is "working to streamline procurement processes and production lead times, and to stockpile critical materials, components, and selected munitions," the report said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
VAR delays are bad enough without waiting for a TV producer to give you the nod to start work.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
But experts said ProPublica’s data analysis, along with stories about delays in ectopic care, underscores the need to find out what is driving the deaths.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
In 1991, without any further delays, the deal to make the film of my father’s life came through.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
There’s no delayed retirement credit for waiting past age 67 to claim a spousal benefit, unlike for a person’s own benefit, which increases by 8% per year until age 70.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
"Traditional reporting mechanisms for public health are often delayed," she said.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
A Eurostar train from Amsterdam to Paris was also delayed due to "operational restrictions" at Amsterdam Centraal on Tuesday, although it was not clear if this was linked to wider disruption.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
With renovations now set to cost around 2.4 billion euros, university president Fatma Deniz blamed "decades of delayed investment and budget cuts in public infrastructure".
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
“The time was ill spent,” I said, “if it delayed our meeting.”
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
A group of House Democrats calling for Congress to be given more time to debate the issue have also written a letter to Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, who would ultimately decide on delaying the recess.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
In June, the New York Times reported that OpenAI was leaning toward delaying its IPO until next year.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
Natural-gas turbines can face multiyear delivery backlogs, delaying new gas-fired power plants.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
Sean McVay and the Rams are adopting a different approach from the San Francisco 49ers by delaying travel to Melbourne, Australia, for their season opener.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
“I do seem to remember hearing something about the paperwork on that house being messed up, delaying everything—but, of course, it’s none of my business.”
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
