delaying action

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noun Military.

a maneuver in which a defensive force delays the advance of a superior enemy force by withdrawing while inflicting the maximum destruction possible without engaging in decisive combat.

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Words nearby delaying action

delayed opening, delayed speech, delayed stress reaction, delayer, delayering, delaying action, delay line, delay screen, Delbert, Delbrück, Delcassé

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use delaying action in a sentence

While this deferred action is controversial in the United States, in Mexico, what Obama did is universally popular.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting|Ruben Navarrette Jr.|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This is where much of the action will be for anti-LGBT groups.
‘Only God’ Can Stop Gay Marriage|Tim Mak|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In 2008, Huckabee raised a little over $16 million, with less than $55,000 coming from political action committees.
Can Huckabee Convert the GOP’s Moneymen?|Lloyd Green|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The possibility that the same outcome could happen another way -- namely a guy asks me out -- keeps me from taking action.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating|Ellie Schaack|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST

But taking such action puts them at odds with the most powerful and best-organized segment of their coalition.
How Public Sector Unions Divide the Democrats|Daniel DiSalvo|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Let the thought of self pass in, and the beauty of great action is gone, like the bloom from a soiled flower.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
He saw Gen. Braddock as he passed on to his defeat, and could give a succinct account of that sanguinary action.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
The wisdom of a scribe cometh by his time of leisure: and he that is less in action, shall receive wisdom.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
Words are often everywhere as the minute-hands of the soul, more important than even the hour-hands of action.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
The action was at first a little confusing to Edna, but she soon lent herself readily to the Creole's gentle caress.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin

British Dictionary definitions for delaying action

delaying action

noun

a measure or measures taken to gain time, as when weaker military forces harass the advance of a superior enemy without coming to a pitched battle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012