delayed-action

American  

[dih-leyd-ak-shuhn] / dɪˈleɪdˈæk ʃən /

Also delay-action

adjective

1. (of an explosive projectile) exploding some time after hitting the target.

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delayed action British  

noun

1. 1. a device for operating a mechanism, such as a camera shutter, a short time after setting

   2. ( as modifier )

      a delayed-action fuse

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Etymology

Origin of delayed-action

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

In a delayed-action scenario, debt in 2050-51 would be 23% of GDP higher than in the early-action scenario, it said.

From Reuters • Jul. 6, 2021

Mr. Lewis remembers the devastation of delayed-action explosive devices left by the Germans and the “slag heap” from the eruption of Vesuvius, just southeast of Naples, in March 1944.

From New York Times • Nov. 28, 2017

Where the arrangements solidify, they often use Pink Floyd’s techniques, including delayed-action drumbeats and gleaming keyboard tones that chime in while a power chord reverberates.

From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2009

Now that campuses elsewhere are quiet, and have been for several years, a wave of delayed-action student revolt is washing over the 174-year-old institution, where the best way to survive has been to conform.

From Time Magazine Archive

Once we were seated to Dad’s satisfaction, he would focus, tell us to smile, click the delayed-action release, and race for the driver’s seat.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey