Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - delay

(delays, delaying, delayed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you delay doing something, you do not do it immediately or at the planned or expected time, but you leave it until later. For sentimental reasons I wanted to delay my departure until June... So don’t delay, write in now for your chance of a free gift. = postpone VERB: V n/-ing, V 2. To delay someone or something means to make them late or to slow them down. Can you delay him in some way?... The passengers were delayed for an hour. = hold up VERB: V n, V n 3. If you delay, you deliberately take longer than necessary to do something. If he delayed any longer, the sun would be up. VERB: V 4. If there is a delay, something does not happen until later than planned or expected. Although the tests have caused some delay, flights should be back to normal this morning. = hold-up N-VAR 5. Delay is a failure to do something immediately or in the required or usual time. We’ll send you a quote without delay. N-UNCOUNT