DELAY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does delay mean? 

• DELAY (noun)
  The noun DELAY has 2 senses:

1. time during which some action is awaited

2. the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time

  Familiarity information: DELAY used as a noun is rare.

• DELAY (verb)
  The verb DELAY has 4 senses:

1. cause to be slowed down or delayed

2. act later than planned, scheduled, or required

3. stop or halt

4. slow the growth or development of

  Familiarity information: DELAY used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DELAY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Time during which some action is awaited

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

delay; hold; postponement; time lag; wait

Context example:

he ordered a hold in the action

Hypernyms ("delay" is a kind of...):

break; intermission; interruption; pause; suspension (a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "delay"):

retardation (the extent to which something is delayed or held back)

moratorium (a legally authorized postponement before some obligation must be discharged)

extension (a mutually agreed delay in the date set for the completion of a job or payment of a debt)

Derivation:

delay (slow the growth or development of)

delay (act later than planned, scheduled, or required)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

delay; holdup

Hypernyms ("delay" is a kind of...):

inactivity (being inactive; being less active)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "delay"):

demurrage (detention of a ship or freight car or other cargo beyond its scheduled time of departure)

forbearance (a delay in enforcing rights or claims or privileges; refraining from acting)

deferment; deferral; postponement (act of putting off to a future time)

cunctation; procrastination; shillyshally (the act of procrastinating; putting off or delaying or defering an action to a later time)

lag; retardation; slowdown (the act of slowing down or falling behind)

dalliance; dawdling; trifling (the deliberate act of delaying and playing instead of working)

filibuster ((law) a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches)

lingering; tarriance (the act of tarrying)

break; disruption; gap; interruption (an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity)

Derivation:

delay (slow the growth or development of)

delay (cause to be slowed down or delayed)

delay (stop or halt)

• DELAY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they delay    ... he / she / it delays   
Past simple: delayed   
Past participle: delayed   
-ing form: delaying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to be slowed down or delayed

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

delay; detain; hold up

Context example:

she delayed the work that she didn't want to perform

Hypernyms (to "delay" is one way to...):

decelerate; retard; slow; slow down; slow up (lose velocity; move more slowly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "delay"):

stonewall (engage in delaying tactics or refuse to cooperate)

catch (delay or hold up; prevent from proceeding on schedule or as planned)

stall (deliberately delay an event or action)

buy time (act so as to delay an event or action in order to gain an advantage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Antonym:

rush (urge to an unnatural speed)

Derivation:

delay (the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Act later than planned, scheduled, or required

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

Don't delay your application to graduate school or else it won't be considered

Hypernyms (to "delay" is one way to...):

hold back; hold off; wait (wait before acting)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "delay"):

hesitate; pause (interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing)

dilly-dally; dillydally; drag one's feet; drag one's heels; procrastinate; shillyshally; stall (postpone doing what one should be doing)

procrastinate (postpone or delay needlessly)

defer; hold over; postpone; prorogue; put off; put over; remit; set back; shelve; table (hold back to a later time)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They delay a long time

Derivation:

delay (time during which some action is awaited)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Stop or halt

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

delay; detain; stay

Context example:

Please stay the bloodshed!

Hypernyms (to "delay" is one way to...):

check; delay; retard (slow the growth or development of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

delay (the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Slow the growth or development of

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

check; delay; retard

Context example:

The brain damage will retard the child's language development

Hypernyms (to "delay" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "delay"):

dampen (check; keep in check (a fire))

delay; detain; stay (stop or halt)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

delay (the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time)

delay (time during which some action is awaited)

 Context examples 

In one supermassive system called BL Lacertae, weighing 200 million times the mass of our Sun, scientists have inferred time delays millions of times greater than what this study found.

(NuSTAR Probes Black Hole Jet Mystery, NASA)

His look and silence, as well as a certain inward self-disapproval, ruffled Amy, and made her resolve to deliver her lecture without delay.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

This is because the time needed to digest the food causes a delay in the association between the stimuli.

(Researchers identify area of the amygdala involved in taste aversion, University of Granada)

Delay meant the coming against him of all the young dogs.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Delayed treatment—or treatment that doesn't work—may cause irreversible deformities, restriction of joint movement, widespread skin lesions, and sometimes life-threatening secondary infections.

(New answer to MRSA, other 'superbug' infections: clay minerals?, NSF)

Once, during a brief halt, when he got tangled in the traces and delayed the start, both Dave and Sol-leks flew at him and administered a sound trouncing.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Delaying diagnosis and treatment could put patients at a greater risk of serious illness or death.

(High Blood Pressure Liked to Long Hours on Job, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

My dearest Lucy,—Forgive my long delay in writing, but I have been simply overwhelmed with work.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

This novel research could lead to new therapeutic approaches for treating or delaying the progression of neurodegenerative conditions that are currently incurable, if the findings are expanded.

(New Mechanisms Found of Cell Death in Neurodegenerative Disorders, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The patients who received auto-FMT consistently regained bacterial diversity, composition and function; recovery of beneficial bacteria in the 11 control patients was delayed.

(Fecal microbiota transplantation helps restore beneficial bacteria in cancer patients, National Institutes of Health)