Definitions for: Delay


[n] the act of delaying
[n] time during which some action is awaited; "instant replay caused too long a delay"; "he ordered a hold in the action"
[v] slow the growth or development of; "The brain damage will retard the child's language development"
[v] cause to be slowed down or delayed; "Traffic was delayed by the bad weather"
[v] stop or halt; "Please stay the bloodshed!"
[v] act later than planned, scheduled, or required; "Don't delay your application to graduate school or else it won't be considered"



Webster (1913) Definition: De*lay", n.; pl. Delays. [F. d['e]lai, fr. OF. deleer
to delay, or fr. L. dilatum, which, though really from a
different root, is used in Latin only as a p. p. neut. of
differre to carry apart, defer, delay. See Tolerate, and
cf. Differ, Delay, v.]
A putting off or deferring; procrastination; lingering
inactivity; stop; detention; hindrance.

Without any delay, on the morrow I sat on the judgment
seat. --Acts xxv.
17.

The government ought to be settled without the delay of
a day. --Macaulay.


De*lay", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Delayed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Delaying.] [OF. deleer, delaier, fr. the noun d['e]lai, or
directly fr. L. dilatare to enlarge, dilate, in LL., to put
off. See Delay, n., and cf. Delate, 1st Defer,
Dilate.]
1. To put off; to defer; to procrastinate; to prolong the
time of or before.

My lord delayeth his coming. --Matt. xxiv.
48.

2. To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time; to
retard the motion, or time of arrival, of; as, the mail is
delayed by a heavy fall of snow.

Thyrsis! whose artful strains have oft delayed The
huddling brook to hear his madrigal. --Milton.

3. To allay; to temper. [Obs.]

The watery showers delay the raging wind. --Surrey.


De*lay", v. i.
To move slowly; to stop for a time; to linger; to tarry.

There seem to be certain bounds to the quickness and
slowness of the succession of those ideas, . . . beyond
which they can neither delay nor hasten. --Locke.

Synonyms: check, hold, hold up, holdup, postponement, retard, time lag, wait

Antonyms: hurry, rush

See Also: alter, break, break, buy time, catch, change, cunctation, dalliance, dampen, dawdling, decelerate, defer, deferment, deferral, delay, demurrage, detain, dillydally, dilly-dally, disruption, drag one's feet, extension, filibuster, forbearance, gap, hesitate, hold back, hold off, hold over, inactivity, intermission, interruption, interruption, lag, lingering, moratorium, pause, pause, postpone, postponement, procrastinate, procrastination, prorogue, put off, put over, remit, retardation, retardation, set back, shelve, shillyshally, shillyshally, slow, slow down, slow up, slowdown, stall, stall, stay, suspension, table, tarriance, trifling, wait, wasting time

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