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delivery

[dih-liv-uh-ree]
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noun, plural de·liv·er·ies.
  1. the carrying and turning over of letters, goods, etc., to a designated recipient or recipients.
  2. a giving up or handing over; surrender.
  3. the utterance or enunciation of words.
  4. vocal and bodily behavior during the presentation of a speech: a speaker's fine delivery.
  5. the act or manner of giving or sending forth: the pitcher's fine delivery of the ball.
  6. the state of being delivered of or giving birth to a child; parturition.
  7. something delivered: The delivery is late today.
  8. Commerce. a shipment of goods from the seller to the buyer.
  9. Law. a formal act performed to make a transfer of property legally effective: a delivery of deed.
  10. Printing. Also called delivery end. the part of a printing press where the paper emerges in printed form.
  11. Archaic. release or rescue; liberation; deliverance.
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Origin of delivery

1400–50; late Middle English delyvere, delyvery < Anglo-French delivrée, noun use of feminine past participle of delivrer to deliver, with suffix assimilated to -ery
Related formsmis·de·liv·er·y, noun, plural mis·de·liv·er·ies.non·de·liv·er·y, noun, plural non·de·liv·er·ies.post·de·liv·er·y, adjectivepre·de·liv·er·y, noun, plural pre·de·liv·er·ies.re·de·liv·er·y, noun, plural re·de·liv·er·ies.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

transmissiondistributionconsignmentshipmentbirthreleasedropcommitmentdispatchconveyancerenditionpostsurrenderportagemailingenunciationdictionmodulationinflection

Examples from the Web for delivery

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • It must not be supposed that this spring day in the spring places had reformed his manner of delivery.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • The work of the individual endured only as long as its delivery lasted.

    The Book of Old English Ballads

    George Wharton Edwards

  • The delivery of ewes and wethers is timed by individual arrangement.

  • The purchaser then brought, or sent, an order on board the ship, for the delivery of the opium.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

  • The art and practice of selling one's credibility for future delivery.

British Dictionary definitions for delivery

delivery

noun plural -eries
    1. the act of delivering or distributing goods, mail, etc
    2. something that is delivered
    3. (as modifier)a delivery service
  2. the act of giving birth to a childshe had an easy delivery
  3. manner or style of utterance, esp in public speaking or recitationthe chairman had a clear delivery
  4. the act of giving or transferring or the state of being given or transferred
  5. the act of rescuing or state of being rescued; liberation
  6. sport
    1. the act or manner of bowling or throwing a ball
    2. the ball so delivereda fast delivery
  7. an actual or symbolic handing over of property, a deed, etc
  8. the discharge rate of a compressor or pump
  9. (in South Africa) the supply of basic services to communities deprived under apartheid
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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

Word Origin and History for delivery

n.

early 15c., "action of handing over to another," from Anglo-French delivrée, noun use of fem. past participle of Old French délivrer (see deliver). Childbirth sense is attested from 1570s. Of speech, from 1580s. Of a blow, throw of a ball, etc., from 1702.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
delivery in Medicine

delivery

(dĭ-lĭv′ə-rē, -lĭv′rē)
n.
  1. The expulsion or extraction of a child and the fetal membranes through the birth canal into the external world.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.