DELAY • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Delay

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/dɪlˈeɪ/ Listen

noun

Delay n. (pl. delays) A putting off or deferring; procrastination; lingering inactivity; stop; detention; hindrance. "Without any delay, on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat." "The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day."

verb

Delay v. t. (past & past part. delayed; pres. part. delaying)

To put off; to defer; to procrastinate; to prolong the time of or before. "My lord delayeth his coming."

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."

To allay; to temper. (Obs.) "The watery showers delay the raging wind."

Delay 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."

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Etymology of 'Delay'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Delay" Quotes from Famous Books

... Germany, which so obsessed the imagination of Europe, went, I found that any faith I may have had in its importance had simply fallen out of my mind. As a danger to civilization, as a conceivable source of destruction and delay, it was a monstrous business enough, but that in the long run it mattered how or when they fought and which won I did not believe. In the development of mankind the thing was of far less importance than the struggle for Flanders ...

— The Passionate Friends • Herbert George Wells

... result was that ninety young men assembled for service. Edmund had sent off a messenger to the king saying that the people were utterly weary of war and refused to take up arms, but that he was gathering a band of young men with whom he would ere long join him; but he prayed for a short delay in order that he might get them into a condition to be useful on the day ...

— The Dragon and the Raven - or, The Days of King Alfred • G. A. Henty

... softest steps, the most hushed breath that ever she could. She did not speak, for she did not know what to say. She felt that he had no more hope from earthly skill, so what was the use of speaking of her father and the delay in his coming? After a moment's pause, standing by the old man's side, she slipped down to the floor, and sate at his feet. Possibly her presence might have some balm in it; but uttering of words was as a ...

— Wives and Daughters • Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

... After a brief delay the storm-doors were pushed open, and a woman appeared with a paper lantern, which she so held as to illuminate the stranger's face, while her own remained in shadow. She scrutinised him in silence, then said briefly, 'Wait; I will bring water.' She ...

— Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan • Lafcadio Hearn

... whispered, "I want it all to come right as quickly as possible. I won't ask you any questions. Of course, I know it is you William cares for, and it seems so perfectly natural now that it should be. If you care for him, don't delay anything on my account. It would make me glad to hear that you were engaged ...

— The Rhodesian • Gertrude Page

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