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(), n.; pl. Delays (). [F. dlai, 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. Without any delay, on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat. Acts xxv. 17. The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day. Macaulay. Delay" v. t.[imp. & p. p.Delayed (); p. pr. & vb. n.Delaying.] [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.] 1. To put off; to defer; to procrastinate; to prolong the time of or before. My lord delayeth his coming. Matt. xxiv. 48. 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. Thyrsis! whose artful strains have oft delayed The huddling brook to hear his madrigal. Milton. 3. To allay; to temper. [Obs.] The watery showers delay the raging wind. Surrey. Delay" v. i.To move slowly; to stop for a time; to linger; to tarry. 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. スポンサード リンク
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