Meaning of delay In English

• 0 to make something happen at a later time than originally planned or expected:

  • My plane was delayed by an hour.

  • Heavy snow delayed the start of the game.

  • [ + -ing verb ] I think we should delay deciding about this until next year.

  • I was delayed by traffic.

  • If you delay now, the opportunity might be lost.

• 1 the situation in which you have to wait longer than expected for something to happen, or the time that you have to wait:

  • This situation needs to be tackled without delay.

  • Long delays are predicted on the motorway because of the accident.

  • There has been a delay in the book's publication.

• 2 to cause to be late or to cause to happen at a later time, or to wait before acting:

  • [ T ] He wants to delay the meeting until Wednesday.

  • [ T ] The space launch was delayed because of bad weather.

  • [ I ] Don’t delay in ordering tickets to the show.

• 3 a period when something that might happen does not happen or does not happen quickly enough, or the failure to act quickly:

  • [ U ] You need to call back without delay.

  • [ C ] The holiday traffic is likely to cause long delays.

  • [ C ] Any further delay would threaten the entire project.