Definitions for delay
dɪˈleɪde·lay

Princeton's WordNet(3.50 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. delay, hold, time lag, postponement, wait(noun)

   time during which some action is awaited

   "instant replay caused too long a delay"; "he ordered a hold in the action"

2. delay, holdup(verb)

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

3. delay, detain, hold up(verb)

   cause to be slowed down or delayed

   "Traffic was delayed by the bad weather"; "she delayed the work that she didn't want to perform"

4. delay(verb)

   act later than planned, scheduled, or required

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

5. stay, detain, delay(verb)

   stop or halt

   "Please stay the bloodshed!"

6. check, retard, delay(verb)

   slow the growth or development of

   "The brain damage will retard the child's language development"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. delay(Noun)

   previously unexpected period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying.

2. delay(Verb)

   To put off until a later time; to distract.

3. delay(Verb)

   To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time.

Origin: From delaien, from delaier, deslaier, from des- + laier, a conflation of Old , and Old . Akin to latian, latu, læfan. More at let (to hinder), late, leave.

Webster Dictionary(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Delay

   a putting off or deferring; procrastination; lingering inactivity; stop; detention; hindrance

2. Delay(noun)

   to put off; to defer; to procrastinate; to prolong the time of or before

3. Delay(noun)

   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

4. Delay(noun)

   to allay; to temper

5. Delay(verb)

   to move slowly; to stop for a time; to linger; to tarry

Origin: [OF. deleer, delaier, fr. the noun dlai, or directly fr. L. dilatare to enlarge, dilate, in LL., to put off. See Delay, n., and cf. Delate, 1st Defer, Dilate.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Delay

   Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Delay

   de-lā′, v.t. to put off to another time: to defer: to hinder or retard.—v.i. to pause, linger, or put off time.—n. a putting off or deferring: a lingering: hinderance:—pr.p. delay′ing; pa.p. delayed′.—n. Delay′er.—adv. Delay′ingly. [O. Fr. delaier—L. differre, dilātum—dis, apart, ferre, to carry.]

2. Delay

   de-lā′, v.t. (Spens.) to temper, dilute, weaken. [Fr. délayer, dilute—L. deliquāre, clarify.]

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'delay' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4077

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'delay' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4483

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'delay' in Nouns Frequency: #1299

4. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'delay' in Verbs Frequency: #609

Anagrams for delay »

1. Ladye

How to pronounce delay?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say delay in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of delay in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of delay in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of delay in a Sentence

1. Miguel de Cervantes:

   Delay always breeds danger.

2. Thomas Jefferson:

   Delay is preferable to error.

3. Frankie Avalon:

   God's delay is not God's denial.

4. Boris Johnson:

   I will not ask for another delay.

5. Benjamin Franklin:

   You may delay, but time will not.

Images & Illustrations of delay

Popularity rank by frequency of use