delaydelay2 ●●○ W3 verb 
Don’t delay – send off for the information now. He delayed his decision on whether to call an election.delay something until something The opening of this section of the road is delayed until September.delay something for something Our meeting was delayed for ten minutes.delay doing something Big companies often delay paying their bills.2[transitive] to make someone or something lateseriously/badly/slightly etc delayed The flight was badly delayed because of fog.—delayed adjectiveTHESAURUSdelay to wait until a later time to do something: · He decided to delay his decision until he had seen the full report.postpone to change an event to a later time or date: · The meeting was postponed.put off to delay doing something. Put off is less formal than delay or postpone, and is the usual phrase to use in everyday English: · I used to put off making difficult decisions.· The game has been put off till next week.hold off to delay doing something, especially while you are waiting for more information or for something else to happen: · House buyers seem to be holding off until interest rates drop.defer formal to delay doing something until a later date, usually because something else needs to happen first: · The decision had been deferred until after a meeting of the directors.· She decided to defer her university application for a year so that she could go travelling.procrastinate /prəˈkræstəneɪt/ formal to delay doing something that you ought to do: · Don’t procrastinate – make a start on your assignments as soon as you get them.
WORD ORIGINdelay2
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French delaier, from laier ‘to leave’VERB TABLE
delay
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | delay |
| he, she, it | delays | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | delayed |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have delayed |
| he, she, it | has delayed | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had delayed |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will delay |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have delayed |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am delaying |
| he, she, it | is delaying | |
| you, we, they | are delaying | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was delaying |
| you, we, they | were delaying | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been delaying |
| he, she, it | has been delaying | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been delaying |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be delaying |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been delaying |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- He decided to delay his departure until after he'd seen the Director.
- Our flight was delayed by bad weather.
- The opening of the new bridge may be delayed for several months.
- The plane's departure was delayed by mechanical problems.
- The police delayed making any announcement until the girl's relatives had been contacted.
- The President's visit had to be delayed because of security problems.
- This latest terrorist attack is bound to delay the peace talks even further.
- We cannot delay any longer.
- Full implementation was delayed until after the Companies Act 1989 had come into effect.
- Mr MacGregor said that he would delay introducing the scheme because of the demands made on teachers by other educational reforms.
- Present value: If you delay paying a bill, you can earn interest on the money in the meantime.
- Rodman had been waiting to sign the contract because of pneumonia that forced him to delay a team physical.
- Since that time bureaucratic foot-dragging and dare it be said? politics have continued to delay the project.
THESAURUS
to wait until a later time to do something: · He decided to delay his decision until he had seen the full report.
to change an event to a later time or date: · The meeting was postponed.
to delay doing something. Put off is less formal than delay or postpone, and is the usual phrase to use in everyday English: · I used to put off making difficult decisions.· The game has been put off till next week.
to delay doing something, especially while you are waiting for more information or for something else to happen: · House buyers seem to be holding off until interest rates drop.
formal to delay doing something until a later date, usually because something else needs to happen first: · The decision had been deferred until after a meeting of the directors.· She decided to defer her university application for a year so that she could go travelling.
formal to delay doing something that you ought to do: · Don’t procrastinate – make a start on your assignments as soon as you get them.
Longman Language Activatorto make someone or something arrive late to make someone or something late - use this especially about a problem or something unexpected: · Mr Evans has been delayed but will be joining us shortly.· Our plane was delayed by fog.· I mustn't delay you any longer.get delayed: · There was an accident on the freeway and we got delayed.
to delay someone or something so that they arrive somewhere late: make sb late for: · The accident made us late for work.· I'll let you go - I don't want to make you late for your appointment.make somebody late doing something: · Catching a later train made Frank late getting to the office.
to make someone or something stop or go more slowly when they are going somewhere: hold somebody up: · I won't hold you up - I can see you're in a hurry.hold up somebody/something: · Get a move on, you two! You're holding up the whole queue!be/get held up: · We got held up in traffic and missed the show.
informal to delay someone when they are trying to go somewhere: · He should be here by now. What's keeping him?
formal to delay someone, especially by keeping them talking or working: · I won't detain you for much longer, Miss Reid. There are just a few more questions that I need to ask you.be unavoidably detained (=by something that you cannot prevent): · Mr Jones should be here, but I'm afraid he's been unavoidably detained.
to make something happen later or take longer than it should to make something happen later than it should, or take longer than it should: · The President's visit had to be delayed because of security problems.· This latest terrorist attack is bound to delay the peace talks even further.delay by: · The plane's departure was delayed by mechanical problems.be delayed for 5 hours/2 months etc: · The opening of the new bridge may be delayed for several months.
to make something happen late, or make it happen more slowly than it should: hold up something: · Protesters held up work on the new road.be held up by something: · The peace talks are being held up by continued fighting on the border.hold somebody/something up: · They should have finished that job on Friday - what's holding them up?· Her stubbornness on this one issue is holding the whole deal up.
also put back British to delay the progress or development of something by a number of weeks, months etc: set somebody/something etc back: · Your mistake has set us back several weeks.· The Transportation Department first announced that the expressway would be completed by 2002, but it has since set the timetable back.set back somebody/something: · The start date kept being put back, for a variety of reasons.
informal if a person or planned piece of work gets bogged down , they are delayed and prevented from continuing because of complicated or difficult problems: get bogged down in: · The project got bogged down in a series of legal disputes.get bogged down by: · Keep the document simple and avoid getting bogged down by complicated formatting.
to deliberately delay someone or something to deliberately delay doing something, or to deliberately stop someone else from doing something until a later time, either because you are not ready or to give yourself an advantage: · Quit stalling and tell me where she is.· I'm not ready to talk to him yet - go out there and see if you can stall him.· City officials have slowed the development by stalling building permits for the area.
to deliberately try to delay doing something or making a decision, because you are not ready or want more time to think about it: · Stop playing for time and give us an answer.· The rebel's current ceasefire doesn't amount to much more than playing for time.
methods used, especially by politicians, in order to delay a plan or decision so that something can be done during the delay: · Some politicians are prepared to use delaying tactics to block the bill.· The peace negotiations were being held up by the delaying tactics of France and Great Britain.
to delay doing something that you ought to do, usually because you do not want to do it - used especially to show disapproval: · He hesitated and procrastinated for weeks before he finally told her he wanted their relationship to end.procrastinate about/over: · Certain players are procrastinating over their contracts in order to see how much money they can squeeze out of their clubs.
a situation in which someone or something is delayed when someone or something is delayed: · Any delay in the production process is costly to a company.long delay: · The strike is causing long delays at the airportthree months'/several weeks' etc delay: · After three months' delay, work finally began on the new building.delay in doing something: · There have been a lot of complaints about delays in issuing passports.
a delay, especially one caused by an unexpected problem, that interrupts a journey or a piece of work: · An accident on the London-Brighton road has caused a major hold-up.· There's been a hold-up with the builders, so the new office won't be ready for several months.
a delay in one stage of a process that stops making progress and makes the whole process take longer: · There's always going to be a bottleneck because only two people review all the applications.· If we don't hire more people in production we're going to have a huge bottleneck in a few months.
to arrange to do something at a later time to change the time when something was planned to happen, and arrange for it to happen later: · Several of today's football games have been postponed because of heavy snow.postpone something until/till something: · They decided to postpone the wedding until Pam's mother was out of the hospital.postpone something for two days/three weeks etc: · In 1968, the Oscar ceremony was postponed for two days, following the assassination of Martin Luther King.
to decide to do something later than you planned to do it or should do it, for example because there is a problem or because you do not want to do it now: put something off/put off something: · I really should go to the dentist, but I keep putting it off.put something off until/till something: · The concert's been put off till next week.put off doing something: · The committee decided to put off making any decision until the new year.
to not do something until something else has happened or until a more suitable time: delay something until something: · He decided to delay his departure until after he'd seen the Director.delay doing something: · The police delayed making any announcement until the girl's relatives had been contacted.
if an event is pushed back , someone arranges for it to be held at a later time or date than originally planned: be pushed/moved/put back to: · The meeting has been put back to next Thursday.
to decide to do or deal with something at a later time, especially because there is a problem or because you have more important things to deal with immediately: · We're going to have to put our plans on ice until we can raise some more money.· I've put my acting career on the back burner for a while, while I concentrate on my writing.
to delay doing something that you ought to do, usually because you do not want to do it - used especially to show disapproval: · He hesitated and procrastinated for weeks before he finally told her he wanted their relationship to end.procrastinate about/over: · Certain players are procrastinating over their contracts in order to see how much money they can squeeze out of their clubs.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY He delayed his decision on whether to call an election. The flight was badly delayed because of fog.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES There was a long silence before anybody spoke. The kick should be taken without undue delay. unforeseen delays in supplying the equipmentCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
1[intransitive, transitive] to wait until a later time to do something: He delayed his decision on whether to call an election. The flight was badly delayed because of fog.· Bad weather caused delays at many airports.
(=make it later)· I decided to delay my departure by a few days.
(=it is late leaving)· Her flight was delayed and she arrived over an hour late.
There was a long silence before anybody spoke.· An active and healthy lifestyle can delay the onset of disease in later life.
(=a reaction that comes some time after an event)· You’re suffering a delayed reaction to the accident.
(=an action which gives you more time)· His enemies believed that his sickness was just another delaying tactic.
The kick should be taken without undue delay. unforeseen delays in supplying the equipment· First-quarter results, which have been delayed because of the investigation, showed a profit, he added.· New York trading of Loral shares is delayed because of an order imbalance.
· We were further delayed getting back on station by a detour for me to the south end of Duke Street.· Its presence on the stage may be further delayed because it would involve restructuring society.· Comas recovered, although he was further delayed by Damon Hill, to finish second ahead of Morbidelli.· In Washington, President Carter was delighted that the Shah's arrival in the states would be further delayed.· A conservative coalition of Democrat and Republican congressmen developed which could delay further reforms, and sometimes block them altogether.
· It was found that decisions about placements were often long delayed while efforts were made to solve the family's problems.· Proof of the growing estrangement between the masses and their new rulers was not long delayed.· I hope my next instalment will not be long delayed.· Mungo found the work satisfying, though he was anxious not to delay long before investigating Vic's headquarters.· The disgust had been long delayed.
· By establishing a paradigm for psychological investigation that lasted for some forty years, behaviourists seriously delayed the understanding of human cognition.· If the walk was to take place, it could not be seriously delayed.
· These reflections take more round-about routes than the direct sounds, and are therefore delayed slightly relative to the direct sounds.
NOUN· Their tough stance followed talks at Camp David in which Mr Bush agreed to delay action until the new year.· The delaying action kept the case out of court and minimized bad publicity until after he won re-election.· Indeed if a plaintiff delays his action unreasonably he may not even get his 2 percent.· Was it fair to anybody to delay action which might hurt innocent investors?· Majority Nationalist Party agreed to advance debate on the proposals after earlier saying they wanted to delay action.
· The Panel is not sympathetic to delay in making an announcement occasioned by an unsuccessful application for suspension.· The idea of delaying announcement dates would soon hold no mirth at Bandley 3.· But they are likely to delay formal announcements until mid-October.
· But that would be perfectly possible without delaying Mrs. Bidwell's arrival.· Due to his delayed arrival, Chun himself escaped injury.
· Present value: If you delay paying a bill, you can earn interest on the money in the meantime.· This, Mr Bates said, would remove the financial incentive for businesses to delay payment of bills.· On the facts the accused was not guilty if he intended merely to delay paying a hotel bill of £1,286.
· Release of the report was delayed two days by a severe winter storm.
· Description and decision are delayed until an extended visual search is completed.· Without sufficient information, a selection decision should be delayed until the book has appeared.· Moreover, abortion as a method allowed decision making to be delayed until material circumstances could be assessed.
· In the first place he had been in to his office and delayed their departure until after lunch.· The other night, I delayed my departure by 15 minutes.· In the case of a major delay on your homeward journey, we shall endeavour to delay your departure from your hotel.· It will only delay my departure and do no good.· Sam, without any hesitation had agreed knowing that to wait for the first available fireman would delay his train's departure.· I got sick, as I so often had at times of unbearable tension, which delayed our departure for a month.· It would mean delaying her own departure, when she wanted the break to be swift and clean.· Telling him would mean more questions and delay her departure.
· In Grampian difficulties with the GPass computer system delayed the development of fundholding, and these problems are still being overcome.· Their fantastic onslaughts undoubtedly delayed the development of the great civilizations that were their neighbours.· Many people in organisations have the power to delay or distort developments.· Some commissioners wanted to delay the development of performance standards until student testing has begun.
· This success was to be repeated, albeit less convincingly, eighteen months later when much-delayed legislative elections were held.· What we do is to picture the current situation altered to the extent that Mrs Thatcher delays the election.
· Pervez Musharraf, delayed his flight home because of a bomb threat.· He said the airline was now working to clear the backlog, with the delayed flights expected to depart within 24 hours.· He said the delayed flights will leave within 24 hours.
· New Jersey Transit trains were all delayed 15 minutes.· The display was delayed for five minutes to allow the queues of cars to park.· Our meeting was delayed for ten minutes.· The Colchester players left the field while police and club stewards restored order, with play being delayed for about five minutes.· Using the scoring method of Palmeri, good myocardial function was preserved until therapy was delayed beyond 180 minutes.
· The net result is that the lack of that information results in the application being delayed for many months.· Paul Reichmann asked me to delay everything for two months and I agreed.· If Labour win the election all road building and improvement schemes will be delayed by at least six months.· This is usually about 18 days after infection, but it may be delayed for several months when arrested larval development occurs.· Magistrates agreed to delay sentencing for three months so he could take the holiday.· The plenum had been delayed for several months, allegedly because of divisions over economic policy between the central and provincial authorities.· Mr Guerin was to have been sentenced yesterday but this has now been delayed by up to two months.
· Fig. 6.8 shows how increased bucket size delays the onset of synonym occurrence in a well randomized file.· They also delay sleep onset, increase the chances of waking after sleep onset occurs, and decrease total sleep time.· Breastfeeding can delay the onset of menstruation for three years.· Of course it makes sense to delay the onset of drug use among kids.· It may delay the onset of Aids, even if only by a small amount.
· That means we can delay putting plans in for the reservoir.· The new discovery, of weakness in welded joints, may delay plans to reopen the plant's two reactors.· Failure to account for the missing could complicate or delay plans to tow the vessel away.· Further opt-out votes for other schools may soon be brought forward to delay the plans more.
· The congenital apathetic inefficiency bred by the regime as the best way of keeping people down had also delayed the demolition process.· Finally, I delayed the committee process.· Complex formatting will take up your time and delay the editorial process.· The completion of the Single Market need not delay the process of enlarging the Community.· It delays the process and, nomatterhow good the system, is always prone to quirks.
· Since that time bureaucratic foot-dragging and dare it be said? politics have continued to delay the project.· Political opposition by Republicans in Congress delayed the project, however, and Triana lost its slot in the shuttle schedule.· BCertain to delay the project is the so-called Armageddon lawsuit that South Pasadena plans to file.· The field work had started in 1907 but the extremely complex geology and the war years had delayed the project.
· This would inevitably delay the start of its construction.· Rain often delays the start of the growing cycle and can interfere with the harvest.· Couples seem to be delaying the start of a family even though they then go on to complete it within the same time.· In particular, it might be appropriate to delay the start of the course to September 1990, rather than 1989. 7.· Organisers delayed the start to avoid that, but nine outside the top 15 finished among the points.
· We could have delayed the trial until the tax business was settled.
· Senators, however, delayed a vote until Thursday on a bill that would make sure the state is repaid.
· The flight began in July but was delayed for two weeks until early August following initial problems with take-off at high altitudes.· Mainly because of Mr Pramual's opposition a much needed increase in interest rates was delayed until last week.· Even her departure had been delayed for weeks for want of the funds necessary to fit out her ship and escort.· While there Mozart attempted to arrange a concert, though his plans were delayed by one week.· But then came the news his immigration application had been delayed a few weeks because he's a diabetic.
VERB· She decided to delay the moment, however, and increase her expectation by leaving the letter until later on.· They decide to delay warning the public of dangers from airbags until a cooperative solution can be reached. 1992· Occasionally it will be necessary to decide to refuse or delay access to certain items of information.
· Manager Alan Murray has been forced to delay team selection for tomorrow night's visit to the Midlands.· Rodman had been waiting to sign the contract because of pneumonia that forced him to delay a team physical.
Don’t delay – send off for the information now. He delayed his decision on whether to call an election.delay something until something The opening of this section of the road is delayed until September.delay something for something Our meeting was delayed for ten minutes.delay doing something Big companies often delay paying their bills.2[transitive] to make someone or something lateseriously/badly/slightly etc delayed The flight was badly delayed because of fog.—delayed adjectiveTHESAURUSdelay to wait until a later time to do something: · He decided to delay his decision until he had seen the full report.postpone to change an event to a later time or date: · The meeting was postponed.put off to delay doing something. Put off is less formal than delay or postpone, and is the usual phrase to use in everyday English: · I used to put off making difficult decisions.· The game has been put off till next week.hold off to delay doing something, especially while you are waiting for more information or for something else to happen: · House buyers seem to be holding off until interest rates drop.defer formal to delay doing something until a later date, usually because something else needs to happen first: · The decision had been deferred until after a meeting of the directors.· She decided to defer her university application for a year so that she could go travelling.procrastinate /prəˈkræstəneɪt/ formal to delay doing something that you ought to do: · Don’t procrastinate – make a start on your assignments as soon as you get them.