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delay

verb

  1. (to cause) to be or occur later than expected
L6965 on Wikidata ↗

noun

  1. audio effect reminiscent of an echo
  2. unexpected period of time that a person or entity must wait before an expected event occurs
  3. cause to occur later in time than planned, occurring later than planned
L6966 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /dɪˈleɪ̯/ / [dɪˈleɪ̯] / /dəˈleɪ̯/

name

  1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English delaien, borrowed from Anglo-Norman delaier, Old French deslaier, from des- + Old French laier (“to leave”), a conflation of Old Frankish *lattjan ("to delay, hinder"; from Proto-Germanic *latjaną (“to delay, hinder, stall”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- (“to leave, leave behind”)), and Old Frankish *laibijan ("to leave"; from Proto-Germanic *laibijaną (“to leave, cause to stay”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to remain, continue”)). Doublet of dally. Akin to Old English latian (“to delay, hesitate”), Old English latu (“a delay, a hindrance”), Old English lǣfan (“to leave”). More at let (to hinder), late, leave.

  1. A period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.

    the delay before the echo of a sound

    Two twenty minutes' delays.

  2. An audio effects unit that introduces a controlled delay.

    The 8-bit sound quality of many early delays did indeed leave a lot to be desired (compare this to the 16-bit digital technology of CDs)

  3. Synonym of promise (“object representing delayed result”).
  4. An amount of time provided on each move before one's clock starts to tick; a less common time control than increment.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English delaien, from Old French delaiier, a variant of delaissier.

  1. To dilute, temper.
  2. To assuage, quench, allay.

    Those dreadfull flames she also found delayd / And quenched quite like a consumed torch […].