delay

delay
    n 1: time during which some action is awaited; "instant replay
         caused too long a delay"; "he ordered a hold in the action"
         [syn: {delay}, {hold}, {time lag}, {postponement}, {wait}]
    2: the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being
       put off until a later time [syn: {delay}, {holdup}]
    v 1: 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" [syn: {delay}, {detain}, {hold up}] [ant:
         {hurry}, {rush}]
    2: act later than planned, scheduled, or required; "Don't delay
       your application to graduate school or else it won't be
       considered"
    3: stop or halt; "Please stay the bloodshed!" [syn: {stay},
       {detain}, {delay}]
    4: slow the growth or development of; "The brain damage will
       retard the child's language development" [syn: {check},
       {retard}, {delay}]
    

Delay \De*lay"\, n.; pl. {Delays}. [F. d['e]lai, fr. OF. deleer
   to delay, or fr. L. dilatum, which, though really from a
   different root, is used in Latin only as a p. p. neut. of
   differre to carry apart, defer, delay. See {Tolerate}, and
   cf. {Differ}, {Delay}, v.]
   A putting off or deferring; procrastination; lingering
   inactivity; stop; detention; hindrance.
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         Without any delay, on the morrow I sat on the judgment
         seat.                                    --Acts xxv.
                                                  17.
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         The government ought to be settled without the delay of
         a day.                                   --Macaulay.
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Delay \De*lay"\, v. i.
   To move slowly; to stop for a time; to linger; to tarry.
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         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. --Locke.
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Delay \De*lay"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Delayed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Delaying}.] [OF. deleer, delaier, fr. the noun d['e]lai, or
   directly fr. L. dilatare to enlarge, dilate, in LL., to put
   off. See {Delay}, n., and cf. {Delate}, 1st {Defer},
   {Dilate}.]
   1. To put off; to defer; to procrastinate; to prolong the
      time of or before.
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            My lord delayeth his coming.          --Matt. xxiv.
                                                  48.
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   2. 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.
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            Thyrsis! whose artful strains have oft delayed
            The huddling brook to hear his madrigal. --Milton.
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   3. To allay; to temper. [Obs.]
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            The watery showers delay the raging wind. --Surrey.
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DELAY, civil law. The time allowed either by law or by agreement of the 
parties to do something. 
     2. The law allows a delay, for a party who has been summoned to appear, 
to make defence, to appeal; it admits of a delay during which and action may 
be brought, certain rights exercised, and the like. 
     3. By the agreement of the parties there may be a delay in the payment 
of a  debt, the fulfillment of a contract, &c. Vide Code, 3, 11, 4; Nov. 69, 
c. 2 Merl. Rep. h 
    

268 Moby Thesaurus words for "delay":
      abide, adjourn, afterthought, arrest, arrestation, arrestment,
      await, backpedal, backwater, be a sideliner, be still, bide,
      bide the issue, bind, block, blockage, blocking, bog down,
      bottle up, brake, bureaucratic delay, check, clip the wings,
      clogging, closing up, closure, coast, confine, constriction,
      continue, countercheck, cramp, curb, dally, dam up, damp, dampen,
      dawdle, dawdling, decelerate, deceleration, defer, deferment,
      deferral, delayage, delayed reaction, detain, detainment,
      detention, dilly, dillydally, do nothing, double take, drag,
      drag along, drag out, dragging, draw rein, drift, drone, ease off,
      ease up, ease-off, ease-up, extend, falter, fixation, flag,
      flagging, foot-dragging, gap, goof off, halt, hampering,
      hang about, hang around, hang back, hang fire, hang up, hang-up,
      hesitate, hiatus, hibernate, hinder, hindering, hindrance,
      hold back, hold everything, hold in check, hold off, hold on,
      hold over, hold up, hold your horses, hold-up, holdback, holdup,
      idle, impede, impediment, inhibit, inhibition, interference,
      interim, interlude, intermeddle, intermit, interrupt, interruption,
      interval, intervene, jam, keep, keep back, keep in check, lacuna,
      lag, lag behind, lagging, lay aside, lay away, lay by, lay over,
      let, let down, let up, letdown, letup, lie dormant, linger, logjam,
      loiter, loitering, lollygag, lose ground, lose momentum,
      lose speed, lull, make late, mark time, meddle, minus acceleration,
      mire, moderate, moratorium, mull, negativism, not budge, not stir,
      nuisance value, obstruct, obstruction, obstructionism, occlusion,
      oppose, opposition, paperasserie, pause, pigeonhole, poke,
      poke along, postpone, postponement, procrastinate, prolong,
      prorogate, prorogue, protract, push aside, put aside, put away,
      put in mothballs, put off, put on ice, recess, red tape,
      red-tapeism, red-tapery, reef, rein in, relax, repress, repression,
      reprieve, reserve, resist, resistance, respite, rest, restrain,
      restraint, restriction, retard, retardance, retardation,
      retardment, scotch, set aside, set back, set by, setback, shelve,
      shift off, shilly-shally, shilly-shallying, sideline, sit back,
      sit it out, sit tight, sit up, slack off, slack up, slack-up,
      slacken, slackening, sleep on, slow, slow down, slow up, slow-up,
      slowdown, slowing, slowing down, slowness, slowup, snub, squeeze,
      stagnate, stall, stand over, stave off, stay, stay of execution,
      stay up, stick around, stop, stoppage, store, stow, stranglehold,
      stretch out, stricture, suppress, suppression, suspend, suspension,
      table, table the motion, take a recess, take in sail, take time,
      tarry, tarrying, temporize, throttle down, tie-up, time lag, trail,
      vacillate, vegetate, wait, wait a minute, wait and see, waiting,
      waive, waste time, watch and wait, waver