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verb
Defer  v. i.  To yield deference to the wishes of another; to submit to the opinion of another, or to authority; with to. "The house, deferring to legal right, acquiesced."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Defer" Quotes from Famous Books



... it is worked, and the new practice would have to rely on a similar good sense and practicality too. The House of Lords must deal with the assent to treaties as they do with the assent to laws; they must defer to the voice of the country and the authority of the Commons even in cases where their own judgment might guide them otherwise. In very vital treaties probably, being Englishmen, they would be of the same mind as the rest of Englishmen. If in such cases they showed ...
— The English Constitution • Walter Bagehot

... was still pondering on this subject when he was summoned before the chief of police and questioned about his crime, which he could not deny. As the hunchback was one of the Sultan's private jesters, the chief of police resolved to defer sentence of death until he had consulted his master. He went to the palace to demand an audience, and told his story to the Sultan, who ...
— The Arabian Nights Entertainments • Andrew Lang.

... indefinitely; but, as mamma could not bear the thought, and Sir Herbert consenting, provided there should be no excitement, we decided not to disarrange the long-talked-of plans. Will and Margie both behaved beautifully, and declared they would cheerfully defer everything if mamma was likely to suffer from it; but it was very evident that their happiness was greatly augmented when told that it would not be necessary. The wedding occurred on the 28th, in the Heath chapel. It was, of course, very quiet and unassuming, though the bride was lovely in her ...
— Virgie's Inheritance • Mrs. Georgie Sheldon

... have thrown a stone from the car into the river. At Hermann, a little German settlement on its banks, we stopped and had an excellent dinner, but it was so late before we left St. Louis, that we passed the greater part of what seemed very pretty scenery in the dark, so that I shall defer any further description of it till we return ...
— First Impressions of the New World - On Two Travellers from the Old in the Autumn of 1858 • Isabella Strange Trotter

... shock—it looked so wan and old. His father's mask had been forced awry by the emotion of the meeting, so that the boy suddenly realised how much he must have felt their absence. He summoned to his aid the thought: 'Well, I didn't want to go!' It was out of date for Youth to defer to Age. But Jon was by no means typically modern. His father had always been "so jolly" to him, and to feel that one meant to begin again at once the conduct which his father had suffered six weeks' loneliness to cure was ...
— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy

... measure of Home Rule. It is one of the paradoxes of an unnatural Union that, over-represented as Ireland is, she has not now power enough to secure her own will. To reduce her numbers, while retaining large powers over Irish affairs at Westminster, would be unjust. For the time being I shall defer the consideration of those powers, and argue the matter on broad principle, assuming that the powers retained in Imperial hands are small enough to warrant a reduction ...
— The Framework of Home Rule • Erskine Childers

... In the second place, clever as he is, Herr Grosse is not infallible. It is just possible that the operation may fail, and that you may find you have put off your marriage for three months, to no purpose. Do think of it! If you defer the operation on your eyes till after your marriage, you conciliate all interests, and you only delay by a month or so the time when ...
— Poor Miss Finch • Wilkie Collins

... in favour of Manon. If he is a man of feeling and of right mind, he will give us his assistance from generosity. If he is not to be touched by a motive of this kind, he will at least do something for a handsome girl, if it were only with the hope of hereafter sharing her favours. I will not defer seeing him,' added I, 'beyond tomorrow. I really feel so elated by this project, that I derive from it ...
— Manon Lescaut • Abbe Prevost

... except confidence in mercy; mercy delivers us; our own merits, our own efforts, do not. Accordingly, Daniel also prays, 9, 18 sq.: For we do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousnesses but for Thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do it; defer not for Thine own sake, O my God; for Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name. Thus Daniel teaches us in praying to lay hold upon mercy, i.e., to trust in God's mercy, and not to trust in our own merits before God. We also wonder what ...
— The Apology of the Augsburg Confession • Philip Melanchthon

... "I am glad there is no worse harm done. You had better defer your statueship till we can find you a sounder pedestal, ...
— Countess Kate • Charlotte M. Yonge

... interest I feel in your very laudable enterprise; and that, if it were not for very important despatches received last week from the county of Maryland, which make it absolutely necessary that I should delay no time in reaching there, I would defer my departure a couple of days for the express purpose of consultation with you ...
— Official Report of the Niger Valley Exploring Party • Martin Robinson Delany

... years, and various portions of it reduced to writing. Though we have long cherished the design of preparing it for the press, yet other engagements, conspiring with a spirit of procrastination, have hitherto induced us to defer the execution of this design. Nor should we have prosecuted it, as we have done, during a large portion of our last summer vacation, and the leisure moments of the first two months of the present session of the University, but for the ...
— Cotton is King and The Pro-Slavery Arguments • Various

... days drive in a stage, at the town of Crow Wing, one hundred and thirty miles, a little west of north, from St. Paul. I will defer, however, any remarks on Crow Wing, or the many objects of interest hereabout, till I have mentioned a few things which I saw coming up. Between St. Paul and this place is a tri-weekly line of stages. The coaches are of Concord manufacture, spacious and comfortable; and the entire equipage ...
— Minnesota and Dacotah • C.C. Andrews

... principle and admonition that I vow and declare he reminded me of Issachar stooping between his two burdens. It was high time for him to be done with your apron-string, my dear: he has all his wild oats to sow; and that is an occupation which it is unwise to defer too long. By the bye, have you heard the news? The Duke of York has done us a service for which I was unprepared. (More tea, Barbara!) George Austin, bringing the prince in his train, is with ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XV • Robert Louis Stevenson

... Bodhi or eventual supreme enlightenment to be obtained, it may be, only after numberless births, feels first a sympathetic joy in the good actions of all living beings. He addresses to the Buddhas a prayer which is not a mere act of commemoration, but a request to preach the law and to defer their entrance into Nirvana. He then makes over to others whatever merit he may possess or acquire and offers himself and all his possessions, moral and material, as a sacrifice for the salvation of all beings. This on the one hand does not much exceed the limits of danam ...
— Hinduism And Buddhism, Volume II. (of 3) - An Historical Sketch • Charles Eliot

... facts, and satisfied him that my mother was innocent! But I waited until Hannah could get away in peace, and before she was ready to start God called him home. In heaven of course he knows it all now. I promised Hannah to tell no one but him, and to defer the explanation until she was safe, entirely beyond the reach of his displeasure; but since you suspected my mother, it is right that I should justify her in ...
— Infelice • Augusta Jane Evans Wilson

... coughing can be, very often, wholly restrained by mere force of will. This should not be lost sight of by any who are attacked with colds or bronchial troubles, or even in the incipient stages of lung difficulties; as thereby they may lessen the inflammation, and defer the progress of the disease. We have seen people, who, having some slight irritation in the larynx, have, instead of smothering the reflex action, vigorously scraped their throats, and coughed with a persistence entirely unwise, inducing inflammation, from which they might date, perhaps, ...
— Minnesota; Its Character and Climate • Ledyard Bill

... involve an extended series of analyses with precautions for specially minimising and quantifying the error. The determination of the acetyl by saponification is also subject to an error sufficiently large to preclude the results being applied to solve the point. While, therefore, we must defer the final statement as to whether the tetracetate is produced from or contains a partly hydrolysed cellulose molecule, it is clear that at least a large proportion of the unit groups must be acetylated in ...
— Researches on Cellulose - 1895-1900 • C. F. Cross

... requirements of justice," he added firmly; "but madame, a member of the Queen's household, is returning to Versailles, and cannot go thither on foot, or in some tumbledown vehicle. So I must beg these constables or sergeants (no matter which) to defer their arrest until to-morrow, and to accept me as surety. The French people is the friend of fair ladies; and true Parisians are incapable of harming or of persecuting aught that is ...
— Marguerite de Navarre - Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Queen of Navarre • Marguerite de Navarre

... the British Government in its discussion of peace terms with Germany might defer to the policy of France and Russia of keeping important negotiations secret inspired the writing of this article, which appeared in The London Daily News of April 1, 1915, and is here published by the author's permission. Mr. Bennett points out that despite her alliance Great Britain ...
— New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 3, June, 1915 - April-September, 1915 • Various

... some way to Littleton, who has no claims to be compared with those of Abercromby (having been half his life in opposition to the present Government), and he obstinately insists upon the expectations held out to him being realised. Lord Grey, though very anxious for Abercromby, thinks it necessary to defer to the leader of the House of Commons, and the consequence is a very disagreeable dispute on the subject. Abercromby is greatly mortified at being postponed to Littleton, and not the less as Althorp has always been his friend. The language of ...
— The Greville Memoirs - A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV, Vol. II • Charles C. F. Greville

... are diseases inherited which make their appearance at birth, but those which defer their exhibition until a certain period of life corresponding with that at which they showed themselves in the parents. Thus in the Lambert family, before referred to, the porcupine excrescence on the skin began to grow in the father and sons at the same age, namely, about nine weeks after ...
— The Physical Life of Woman: - Advice to the Maiden, Wife and Mother • Dr. George H Napheys

... your deference to my desires, and I wish to prove you once more. Travel for a year, and he who at the end of the year brings home the most beautiful girl shall marry her, and be crowned king on his marriage. I promise you that I will not defer this ...
— My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales • Edric Vredenburg

... said Occasion has a forelock, but it is bald behind. Our Lord has taught this by the course of nature. A farmer must sow his barley and oats about Easter; if he defer it till Michaelmas it were too late. When apples are ripe they must be plucked from the tree or they are spoiled. Procrastination is as bad as over-hastiness. There is my servant Wolf, when four or five birds fall upon the bird-net he ...
— The World's Greatest Books, Vol X • Various

... novelty would have attracted his attention for the moment. But no: his first question was, Aysh 'Ujrat?—"What is the hire for my camels?" Finally, these men threw so many difficulties in our way, that I was compelled to defer our exploration of the eastern region to ...
— The Land of Midian, Vol. 1 • Richard Burton

... recital of circumstances necessary to your future decisions in life. Every word of that recital must draw with it a life-drop from my heart, for I shall speak to you of the past, and recollection to me is agony. The trial we once have considered as inevitable, it is fruitless to defer. Draw yourself a seat, and afford me for a few minutes your ...
— The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor - Volume I, Number 1 • Stephen Cullen Carpenter

... A pretender is on our shores; an armed assassin is threatening our peaceful liberties; a wandering, homeless cut-throat is robbing on our highways; and the punishment of his crime awaits him. Let no considerations of the past defer that just punishment; it is the duty of the legislator to provide for THE FUTURE. Let the full powers of the law be brought against him, aided by the stern justice of the public force. Let him be tracked, like a wild beast, to his lair, and meet the fate of one. But the sentence has, ...
— Burlesques • William Makepeace Thackeray

... which prevents delimitation of the northern maritime boundaries; many refugees who left East Timor in 2003 still reside in Indonesia and refuse repatriation; Australia and East Timor agreed in 2005 to defer the disputed portion of the boundary for 50 years and to split hydrocarbon revenues evenly outside the Joint Petroleum Development Area covered by the 2002 Timor Sea Treaty; dispute with Australia has hampered creation of a southern maritime ...
— The 2007 CIA World Factbook • United States

... "Defer all thanks, Sir Knight," said the queen, "until first I state to thee the conditions on which thou yet holdest thy life. It is granted thee to be free of death, if within one year and a day from this present thou art able to declare ...
— The Children's Portion • Various

... bravely; play the man. Look not on pleasures as they come, but go. Defer not the least vertue: life's poore span Make not an ell, by trifling in thy woe. If thou do ill, the joy fades, not the pains. If well: the pain doth fade, the joy remains. ...
— Children's Literature - A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes • Charles Madison Curry

... least, then, the necessary expenses of maintaining the republic. You can not fail to know of what importance it is to retrench those which are superfluous." "I confess to you that I am not more instructed with regard to this article than the other." "Then it is necessary to defer till another time the design that you have of enriching the republic; for it is impossible for you to benefit the state while you are ignorant of its revenues ...
— Sanders' Union Fourth Reader • Charles W. Sanders

... upon us daily, and we have reason every moment to dread an open rebellion. We have ordered troops to be raised but fear they will be too slow in coming, and that we shall be under the disagreeable necessity of asking a small and temporary aid from the Genl; but we shall defer this till reduced ...
— The Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn • Henry P. Johnston

... being thus concentrated on the Congo, Portugal was obliged to defer to the practically unanimous refusal of the Powers to recognise her claims over the lower parts of that river; and on November 19 she conceded the principle of freedom of trade on those waters. Next, it was decided that the Congo ...
— The Development of the European Nations, 1870-1914 (5th ed.) • John Holland Rose

... the full, and the nights were bright and beautiful. Dick decided that it would be best to defer the accomplishment of his purpose till later in the month, when darker nights would serve as a screen, and render ...
— Frank's Campaign - or the Farm and the Camp • Horatio Alger, Jr.

... did succour him Gainst your commaundement, mightie Soveraigne. Ponder your oath, your vowe, as God did live, I should not live, if I did rescue him. I did, God lives, and will revenge it home, If you defer ...
— A Collection Of Old English Plays, Vol. IV. • Editor: A.H. Bullen

... appended, "Call him ours, madam," and held his head as if to catch the word from her lips, which, however, she chose to refuse, or defer. They made the coloured West a common point for their eyes, and ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... left the room I couldn't help muttering a "Thank God!" for the success of a mission I more than once feared for, and hastened to despatch a note to my uncle, assuring him of the Blake interest, and adding that for propriety's sake I should defer my departure for a day ...
— Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon, Volume 1 (of 2) • Charles Lever

... into an empty brain: Bring youth to folly's gate: there train him in, And after all, extenuate his sin. Well, I will not go, I am resolved for that. Go, carry it again: yet stay: yet do too, I will defer ...
— Every Man In His Humour • Ben Jonson

... seat to which he was invited. It was the stool on which he sat when in the cabin before. It cost him a greater effort than can be explained to defer to this defiant fellow, who a few weeks or even days before would have cringed at his feet ...
— The Jungle Fugitives • Edward S. Ellis

... that Emilia and Julia had been detained by company, in ceremonial restraint, later than usual, they were induced, by the easy conversation of madame, and by the pleasure which a return to liberty naturally produces, to defer the hour of repose till the night was far advanced. They were engaged in interesting discourse, when madame, who was then speaking, was interrupted by a low hollow sound, which arose from beneath the apartment, and seemed like the closing of ...
— A Sicilian Romance • Ann Radcliffe

... one of your age so circumspect," replied Krause; "perhaps it would be better to defer our conversation till after supper; but in the meantime, could you not just give me a little inkling of what ...
— Snarley-yow - or The Dog Fiend • Frederick Marryat

... Sir John, and I must pray you to let me defer it for a time. In the first place, I have two or three wounds that I shall be ...
— A Knight of the White Cross • G.A. Henty

... bodies, freely elected in the various cities and rural districts."[2] In attaining these ends, all of them obviously to the advantage of the colony, the Colonial Secretary desired to consult, and, as far as possible, to defer to Canadian ...
— British Supremacy & Canadian Self-Government - 1839-1854 • J. L. Morison

... their whole army. The Elector of Saxony was taken prisoner; the Landgrave of Hesse surrendered in despair. His victory left Charles master of the Empire. The jealousy of the Pope indeed at once revived with the Emperor's success, and his recall of the bishops from Trent forced Charles to defer his wider plans for enforcing religious unity; while in Germany itself he was forced to reckon with Duke Maurice and the Protestant princes who had deserted the League of Schmalkald, but whose one object in joining the Emperor had been to provide a check on his after movements. For the ...
— History of the English People - Volume 4 (of 8) • John Richard Green

... majesty then said, 'that you would defer the marriage out of regard for M. de Bragelonne's ...
— Louise de la Valliere • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... concession to her. But he only said "Oh yes," impatiently, and went away. She held it to be very odious in him that he did not think the painful propositions he had had to make to her were enough, without showing so unpleasant a temper. And when she put the moderate request that he would defer going to Trumbull again, it was cruel in him not to assure her of what he meant to do. She was convinced of her having acted in every way for the best; and each grating or angry speech of Lydgate's served only as an addition to ...
— Middlemarch • George Eliot

... at whose expense this is attained" (La Prostitution devant le Philosophe, 1882, p. 171). "To make marriage permanent is to make it difficult," an American medical writer observes; "to make it difficult is to defer it; to defer it is to maintain in the community an increasing number of sexually perfect individuals, with normal, or, in cases where repression is prolonged, excessive sexual appetites. The social evil is the natural outcome ...
— Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6 (of 6) • Havelock Ellis

... 9 Nevertheless, for my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain from thee, that I ...
— The Book Of Mormon - An Account Written By The Hand Of Mormon Upon Plates Taken - From The Plates Of Nephi • Anonymous

... the army shows that the people as a whole would have supported a more thorough preparation of the army, had the responsible officials possessed sufficient courage and intelligence to have demanded it; nor would the people have been unwilling to defer victory until autumn, had they been honestly informed of the danger of tropical disease into which they were sending the flower of their youth. Such a postponement would not only have meant better weather but ...
— The Path of Empire - A Chronicle of the United States as a World Power, Volume - 46 in The Chronicles of America Series • Carl Russell Fish

... must only try it again," said the man, languidly; "but shall have to defer the walk until to-morrow, ...
— Off-Hand Sketches - a Little Dashed with Humor • T. S. Arthur

... be denied that he had literally fulfilled his promise, the general opinion was that such a promise ought to have been more than literally fulfilled. If his Parliament, overwhelmed with business which could not be postponed without danger to his throne and to his person, had been forced to defer, year after year, the consideration of so large and complex a question as that of the Irish forfeitures, it ill became him to take advantage of such a laches with the eagerness of a shrewd attorney. ...
— The History of England from the Accession of James II. - Volume 5 (of 5) • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... with one of the girls, at least. Mildred has returned to us, looking very well, and says she has had a very pleasant tour among her friends, and has received a great deal of kindness wherever she has been. She seems to be very contented now at home. I think you did right to defer her visit to us until you had more leisure. I am glad your prospects for a harvest are so good. Every one must look to his material interests now, as labour is our only resource. The completion of the railroad to the Pamunkey ...
— Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee • Captain Robert E. Lee, His Son

... this abject death, after the endurance of all manner stresses.' But the youth said, 'That which hath betided me was forewrit to me and that which is written none hath power to efface; and if my term be advanced, none may avail to defer it.'[FN136] Then they passed that night and the following day and the next night and the next day [in the pit], till they were weak with hunger and came near upon death and could ...
— Tales from the Arabic Volumes 1-3 • John Payne

... Mr. Jasper broke silence by declaring that he placed his whole reliance, humanly speaking, on Mr. Sapsea's penetration. There was no conceivable reason why his nephew should have suddenly absconded, unless Mr. Sapsea could suggest one, and then he would defer. There was no intelligible likelihood of his having returned to the river, and been accidentally drowned in the dark, unless it should appear likely to Mr. Sapsea, and then again he would defer. He washed his hands as clean as he ...
— The Mystery of Edwin Drood • Charles Dickens

... the highest pitch of excitement: and it was at all times much more difficult to effect a successful capture by daylight than by night when the fires and flambeaux act with double effect, it was the wish of the hunters to defer their final effort till the evening, when the darkness would greatly ...
— Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon • J. Emerson Tennent

... dictated that, as well as his general briskness. Though he was not at all like Mr. Gundry in undervaluing female mind, his larger experience and more frequent intercourse with our sex had taught him to do justice to us; and it was pleasant to hear him often defer to the judgment of ladies. But this he did more, perhaps, in theory than in practice; yet it made all the ladies declare to one another that he was a perfect gentleman. And so he was, though he had his faults; but his faults were such as we ...
— Erema - My Father's Sin • R. D. Blackmore

... seldom seen Deceit maintains and supplies most men's employment Decree that says, "The court understands nothing of the matter" Defence allures attempt, and defiance provokes an enemy Defend most the defects with which we are most tainted Defer my revenge to another and better time Deformity of the first cruelty makes me abhor all imitation Delivered into our own custody the keys of life Denying all solicitation, both of hand and mind Depend as much upon fortune as anything else we do Desire of riches is more ...
— Quotes and Images From The Works of Michel De Montaigne • Michel De Montaigne

... been able to decide. I am aware that if we admit a first cause, the mind still craves to know whence it came, and how it arose. Nor can I overlook the difficulty from the immense amount of suffering through the world. I am, also, induced to defer to a certain extent to the judgment of the many able men who have fully believed in God; but here again I see how poor an argument this is. The safest conclusion seems to me that the whole subject is beyond the scope of man's intellect; but ...
— The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume I • Francis Darwin

... secreted them, careful and thoughtful, 15 Dear-valued jewels. Death had offsnatched them, In the days of the past, and the one man moreover Of the flower of the folk who fared there the longest, Was fain to defer it, friend-mourning warder, A little longer to be left in enjoyment 20 Of long-lasting treasure.[1] A barrow all-ready Stood on the plain the stream-currents nigh to, New by the ness-edge, unnethe of approaching: ...
— Beowulf - An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem • The Heyne-Socin

... of the United States for indemnity for spoliations committed on the high seas by the French authorities in the exercise of a belligerent power against Mexico has been met by the Government of France with a proposition to defer settlement until a mutual convention for the adjustment of all claims of citizens and subjects of both countries arising out of the recent wars on this continent shall be agreed upon by the two countries. The suggestion is not deemed unreasonable, but it belongs to Congress ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 2) of Volume 6: Andrew Johnson • James D. Richardson

... Grotius, have so thoroughly repudiated the original Christian and patristic doctrine of the atonement, and built another doctrine upon their own uninspired speculations, why should our modern sects defer so slavishly to them, and, instead of freely investigating the subject for themselves from the first sources of Scripture and spiritual philosophy, timidly cling to the results reached by these biassed, morbid, and over sharp thinkers? In proportion as scholarly, unfettered ...
— The Destiny of the Soul - A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life • William Rounseville Alger

... madness to defer." "The present all their care the future his." "Wit makes an enterpriser sense a man." "Ask thought for joy grow rich and hoard within." "Song soothes our pains and age has pains to soothe." "Here an enemy encounters there a rival supplants ...
— The Grammar of English Grammars • Goold Brown

... the assembly of the states at Brussels, he rose feebly from his seat, and declared his abdication of the sovereign power; and it was said that one of Charles's last advices to his son Philip was to cultivate the goodwill of the people of the Netherlands, and especially to defer to the counsels of the Prince of Orange. When, therefore, in the year 1555, Philip began his rule in the Netherlands, there were few persons who were either better entitled or more truly disposed to act the part of faithful and loyal advisers than William of Nassau, ...
— Ten Great Events in History • James Johonnot

... some church men, monks and canons; for they have little other occupation. Each day is a festival unto them, who diligently heed the claustral proverb, De missa ad mensam. They do not use to linger and defer their sitting down and placing of themselves at table, only so long as they have a mind in waiting for the coming of the abbot; so they fell to without ceremony, terms, or conditions; and everybody supped, unless it were some vain, conceited, dreaming dotard. Hence was a supper called coena, ...
— Gargantua and Pantagruel, Complete. • Francois Rabelais

... the kitchen with the intention of making some business-like measurements of the opening about the range, and to see where a boiler could best be placed. A glance within was sufficient. Martha was busy about the very spot; and Vane turned back, making up his mind to defer his visit till midnight, when the place would be solitary, ...
— The Weathercock - Being the Adventures of a Boy with a Bias • George Manville Fenn

... to have an explanation with Muzzio immediately after supper; but his strange guest did not return to supper. Then Fabio decided to defer his conversation with Muzzio until the following day; and both the young ...
— Dream Tales and Prose Poems • Ivan Turgenev

... "M. de Bragelonne is now so exceedingly unhappy that he cannot any longer defer asking your majesty for ...
— Louise de la Valliere • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... attends meetings in the afternoon; coaches again till dinner; and after dinner reads in his rooms till midnight. He seems to have perfect bodily health and vigour, and he has never been known to neglect or to defer anything that he undertakes. In fact, he is a perfectly ...
— The Silent Isle • Arthur Christopher Benson

... so far as I could remember Sir Walter Scott's novels at the moment, they contained nothing from which any one could say he had taken his plot which, of course, was greatly to his credit on the score of originality, but I begged to be allowed to defer giving any further opinion until he had finished the work; so much depends upon the way in which these ...
— Diversions in Sicily • H. Festing Jones

... unacknowledged fear, came this new dismay—a party! How furious Lloyd would be if he heard of it; well, he must not hear of it. But what could she do? If she put it off with a flimsy excuse, it would only defer the descent upon her. How helpless she was! They would come, these people, they would be friendly; she ...
— The Awakening of Helena Richie • Margaret Deland

... the cold weather, even though November be still in the store of time, we should be exhibiting no dangerous propensities. If, as we are inclined to believe, fires were discovered previously to the invention of lord mayors, wherefore should we defer our accession to them until he is welcomed by those frigid antiquities Gog and Magog? Wherefore not let fires go out with the old lord mayor, if they needs must come in with the new? Wherefore not do without lord mayors altogether, and elect an annual grate to judge the prisoners ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, Complete • Various

... him from coming, and I thought of writing to him the next day, but afterward put it off. Lucy came again into my study, where she was sure to find me in the morning. "My dear," said she, "do you recollect that you desired me to defer inoculating our little boy till you could decide whether it be best to inoculate him in the common ...
— Tales & Novels, Vol. 2 • Maria Edgeworth

... gods are good," they tell us; "Nor will our gods defer Remission of rude fellows' Ability ...
— Jurgen - A Comedy of Justice • James Branch Cabell

... accensus libidine et sui minime compos, irruit rabiosus in eam. Conuersa illa et tremefacta, suspiciens aduertit hominem plenum diabolico spiritu. "Heu," inquit, "miser, quid agis? Considera ubi es, reuerere haec sancta, defer Deo, defer seruo eius Malachiae, parce et tibi ipsi." Non destitit ille, furiis agitatus iniquis.[1203] Et ecce (quod horribile dictu est) uenenatum et tumidum animal quod bufonem uocant uisum est reptans exire de inter femora mulieris. Quid ...
— St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh • H. J. Lawlor

... he would use all means for the preservation of Flanders, consistent with the peace and safety of his kingdoms. This answer was an evasion, or rather a denial. The commons, therefore, thought proper to be more explicit. They entreated him not to defer the entering into such alliances as might attain that great end; and in case war with the French king should be the result of his measures, they promised to grant him all the aids and supplies, which would enable ...
— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part F. - From Charles II. to James II. • David Hume

... every Circumstance Of what you tell, and what I know my self, I must conclude, I ought not to defer To search Antonio's House: if he's from home, As you pretend he is; It makes me think There is some strange Intrigue design'd by him. For why should he turn back, as you relate, And then obscure himself in such a House? Besides, ...
— The Fatal Jealousie (1673) • Henry Nevil Payne

... Joseph and Prince Lucien in succession interrupted this discourse. They confirmed the Duke of Vicenza's opinion respecting the ill disposition of the chamber; and advised the Emperor, to defer the convocation of an imperial session, and allow his ministers to ...
— Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. II • Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon

... It is written (Ecclus. 5:8): "Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day." But the perfect conversion to God is of those who are regenerated in Christ by Baptism. Therefore Baptism should not be deferred ...
— Summa Theologica, Part III (Tertia Pars) - From the Complete American Edition • Thomas Aquinas

... the first Scotch Highlanders who brought the mass into the Valley above Johnstown were openly denounced as idolaters. But it was certainly not caution which induced Mr. Stewart's backsliding. He was not the man to defer in that way to the prejudices of others. The truth was that he had no religious beliefs or faith whatever. But his scepticism was that of the French noble of the time, that of Voltaire and Mirabeau, rather than of the English plebeian ...
— In the Valley • Harold Frederic

... the sub-lieutenant was put in charge of the marines, while he descended to enter the boat. As he was about to step aboard, he turned to the captain and said: "It will be too late if you defer the ...
— The Boy Volunteers with the Submarine Fleet • Kenneth Ward

... distance between them, Miss Edwards assumed that she could safely defer to Sandy-haired Jim, if, as it seemed, he enjoyed the sense of being her protector. Even had he been her equal, she would have said to herself, "He knows my heart is breaking for another, and will respect ...
— The New Penelope and Other Stories and Poems • Frances Fuller Victor

... defer quite so graciously and readily, to no one was he so scrupulously courtly in bearing as to those who constituted his ...
— Old Familiar Faces • Theodore Watts-Dunton

... importance—for our cloth and supplies were all fast ebbing away—I did not yet give in applying for it, and next day tried another device to tempt this wily Arab, by offering 500 dollars, or L100, if he would defer his journey for a short time, and accompany us round the lake. This was a large, and evidently an unexpected offer, and tried his cupidity sorely; it produced a nervous fidgetiness, and he begged leave to retire and con the matter ...
— What Led To The Discovery of the Source Of The Nile • John Hanning Speke

... language is out of fashion, blind us to the fact that the founders of the United States did deliberately aspire to found a commonwealth in which common men and women should count for more than elsewhere, and in which, as we might now phrase it, all authority must defer somewhat to the interests and to the sentiments of the under dog. "Public opinion on any subject," he said, "always has a 'central idea' from which all its minor thoughts radiate. The 'central idea' in our public opinion at the beginning was, and till recently has continued to be, 'the equality ...
— Abraham Lincoln • Lord Charnwood

... Gran, have made the important discovery, that my first concert in New York, on my return from Europe in 1853, took place the 11th of February, and consequently have decided to defer my reappearance for a few days in order that it may fall upon the 11th of February, 1862. The public (which takes not the remotest interest in the thing) has been duly informed of this memorable coincidence ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 91, May, 1865 • Various

... us. Just as Frank's poor mother had made all things ready for Lord Castlewood's reception, and was eagerly expecting her son, it was by Colonel Esmond's means that the kind lady was disappointed of her longing, and obliged to defer once more the darling ...
— Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges • William Makepeace Thackeray

... ladies, that I, a stranger, have remained so long to-night. The truth is, I had come here to have some conversation on private and very important matters, but finding you so lively, and, I must add, so pleasantly engaged, I deemed it expedient to defer my conversation until you ...
— The Iron Horse • R.M. Ballantyne

... still hot; perspective, scale, relation, must all while we stand so near be difficult to adjust. Not all particulars, more especially of the latest marches in his wide campaign, can be disclosed without risk of unjust pain to persons now alive. Yet to defer the task for thirty or forty years has plain drawbacks too. Interest grows less vivid; truth becomes harder to find out; memories pale and colour fades. And if in one sense a statesman's contemporaries, ...
— The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, Vol. 1 (of 3) - 1809-1859 • John Morley

... with his estrangement from the Duke de Fitz-James, which, however, was followed by a speedy reconciliation, for the Duke was offering, a few months later, to support him again in a political election. The unsatisfactory state of his health, and some family troubles, decided him to defer his candidature to the end of the decade, by which date he hoped to have written two works—The Tragedy of Philippe II. and The History of the Succession of the Marquis of Carrabas—which should implant his conception of absolute monarchic power so strongly in the minds of his fellow-citizens ...
— Balzac • Frederick Lawton

... of challenge, and accepted the concurrence of five voices only in cases of life and death—and those of persons subject to the influence of the governor and unaccustomed to weigh evidence, or to defer to the maxims of civil tribunals. But if the constitution of the court was a subject of just complaint, the creation of new offences by unauthorised legislation, was still less acceptable to ...
— The History of Tasmania, Volume I (of 2) • John West

... stimulation of seed in order to delay or to hasten the hatch according to the movements of the market. Hydrochloric and sulphuric-acid baths and electricity are used as stimulants; storage in "wind holes" is practised to defer hatching. ...
— The Foundations of Japan • J.W. Robertson Scott

... part, entitled "A Modest Defence of the Proceedings of the Rabble in all Ages." Both these I had thoughts to publish by way of appendix to the following treatise; but finding my common- place book fill much slower than I had reason to expect, I have chosen to defer them to another occasion. Besides, I have been unhappily prevented in that design by a certain domestic misfortune, in the particulars whereof, though it would be very seasonable, and much in the modern ...
— A Tale of a Tub • Jonathan Swift

... thou comest when I had thee least in mind! In thy power it lieth me to save; Yet of my good will I give thee, if ye will be kind, Yea, a thousand pound shalt thou have, And defer ...
— Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse • Various

... that both must stay. Something might occur to reveal the whereabouts of the money, or he could watch her, reasonably certain that one day her woman's curiosity would lead her to its hiding place. Plainly, in any event, he must bide his time. Though his decision to defer action was taken, his resentment did not abate; he could not conquer the deep rage in his heart against her because of her interference in his affairs, and when he suddenly looked up to see her watching him with a calm smile he made a grimace ...
— The Boss of the Lazy Y • Charles Alden Seltzer

... intestine dissensions of Spain command our profound sympathy, and must be accepted as perhaps a cause of some delay. An early settlement, in part at least, of the questions between the Governments is hoped. In the meantime, awaiting the results of immediately pending negotiations, I defer a further and fuller communication on the subject of the relations of this ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Ulysses S. Grant • James D. Richardson

... from it? Besides, he was surely aware that, had he been obliged to answer Thyone in words, he would not have been guilty of the falsehood. His reply had consisted of a slight motion of the head, and it negatived nothing; it was merely intended to defer for a short time ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers

... was, however, not everywhere the same. Among the Zulus, whose organization was entirely military, he was a despot whose word was law. Among the Bechuana tribes, and their kinsfolk the Basutos, he was obliged to defer to the sentiment of the people, which (in some tribes) found expression in a public meeting where every freeman had a right to speak and might differ from the chief.[9] Even such able men as the Basuto Moshesh and the Bechuana Khama ...
— Impressions of South Africa • James Bryce

... extendeth to barren professors. 7. This calling to the dresser of the vineyard to cut it down, is to show the outcries of justice against fruitless professors. 8. The dresser's interceding is to show how the Lord Jesus steps in, and takes hold of the head of his Father's axe, to stop, or at least to defer, the present execution of a barren fig-tree. 9. The dresser's desire to try to make the fig-tree fruitful, is to show you how unwilling he is that even a barren fig-tree should yet be barren, and perish. 10. His digging about it, and dunging ...
— The Works of John Bunyan • John Bunyan

... hot and fatiguing trip and her cool, spacious home was so restful that she decided to defer her visit to Chautauqua until later in the season.[75] On August 8, Miss Shaw, Mrs. Foster Avery and Miss Anthony, who had been having a little visit together, started from Rochester for Chautauqua, where ...
— The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 2 of 2) • Ida Husted Harper

... said Cebes, and have nothing more to object; but if my friend Simmias, or any one else, has any further objection to make, he had better speak out, and not keep silence, since I do not know to what other season he can defer the discussion, if there is anything which he wants to ...
— Phaedo - The Last Hours Of Socrates • Plato

... Thessalian nation; and every one present was of opinion, that their concurrence ought to be sought. The only points on which opinions differed were, that some thought the attempt ought to be made immediately; while others judged it better to defer it for the winter season, which was then about half spent, until the beginning of spring. Some advised to send ambassadors only; others, that the king should go at the head of all his forces, and if they hesitated, terrify ...
— History of Rome, Vol III • Titus Livius

... say, "you are a wise person to consult me as to what soldiers shall eat in Lent, as if the laws of war and necessity did not over-ride all others without exception! Is it not a great thing that these good men submit themselves to the Church, and so defer to her as to ask her permission and blessing? God grant that they may do nothing worse than eat eggs, cheese, or beef; if they were guilty of nothing more heinous than that, there would not be ...
— The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales • Jean Pierre Camus

... and they had enough to be there when they did not choose what they chose to say. They were not braver when they were not more insistent and they were not more together when they were not more tolerant. They did not defer what they did when they showed what they had done. They were all the addition which was not too determined. They were saying that which they said was what there would be seen when there was not all the attendance that there ...
— Matisse Picasso and Gertrude Stein - With Two Shorter Stories • Gertrude Stein

... of the next week, of renewing his conversation with Aram, and of artfully turning it into the channels which he thought most likely to produce the impression he desired to create. He was somewhat baffled, but by no means dispirited, in his attempts; but he resolved to defer his ultimate proposition until it could be made to the fullest advantage. He had engaged the Lesters to promise to pass a day at the castle; and with great difficulty, and at the earnest intercession of Madeline, ...
— Eugene Aram, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... words could show the ample welcome, That my free heart affords you, I could then Become a prater, but I now must deal Like a feast Politician with your Lordships; Defer your welcome till the banket end, That it may then salve our defect of fair: Yet Welcome now and all that ...
— Cromwell • William Shakespeare [Apocrypha]

... "I usually defer to your knowledge, Doctor," he said, "but this time I think you are off on the wrong foot. If the thieves came in through the windows, what was their object in cutting that hole through the roof? The marks are very plain and they ...
— Astounding Stories, February, 1931 • Various

... tissue of most of the organs, tissues which, generally speaking, consist of a matrix or embedding substance, formed by the cells and outside of them, as well as the cells themselves; and, thirdly, muscular and nervous tissue. We shall study the former two in this chapter, and defer the third ...
— Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata • H. G. Wells

... parts: "1. That he shall well and truly serve the king's people, as one of the serjeants at law. 2. That he shall truly counsel them that he shall be retained with, after his cunning. 3. That he shall not defer, wait, or delay their causes willingly for covetousness of money, or other thing that may tend to his profit. 4. That he shall give due attendance accordingly." 2 ...
— An Essay on Professional Ethics - Second Edition • George Sharswood

... understand. There is scope, within the tradition, for all the industry and erudition of the finest renaissance scholars. Learning of this sort has been respected in China for many ages. One meets old scholars of this type, to whose opinions, even in politics, it is customary to defer, although they have the innocence and unworldliness of the old-fashioned don. They remind one almost of the men whom Lamb describes in his essay on Oxford in the Vacation—learned, lovable, and sincere, ...
— The Problem of China • Bertrand Russell

... he might therefore consider his first demand granted; that the investiture of the kingdom was an affair that required deliberation in a council of cardinals, but he would do all he possibly could to induce them to accede to the king's desire; lastly, he must defer the affair of the sultan's brother till a time more opportune for discussing it with the Sacred College, but would venture to say that, as this surrender could not fail to be for the good of Christendom, as it was demanded for the purpose of assuring further the success of a crusade, ...
— Celebrated Crimes, Complete • Alexandre Dumas, Pere



Words linked to "Defer" :   knuckle under, cancel, set back, yield, postpone, succumb, reprieve, call off, give in, scrub, table, bow, deferment, deferral, delay, put over, deference, buckle under, respite, reschedule, shelve



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