Delay

Delay - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

DELAY, v.t.

1. To prolong the time of acting, or proceeding; to put off; to defer.

My lord delayeth his coming. Mat 14.

2. To retard; to stop, detain or hinder for a time; to restrain motion, or render it slow; as, the mail is delated by bad roads.

Thyrsis, whose artful strains have oft delayed

The huddling brook to hear his madrigal.

3. To allay.

DELAY, v.i. To linger; to move slow; or to stop for a time.

There are certain bounds to the quickness and slowness of the succession of ideas, beyond which they can neither delay nor hasten.

DELAY, n.

1. A lingering; stay; stop.

2. A putting off or deferring; procrastination; as, the delay of trial is not to be imputed to the plaintiff.

3. Hinderance for a time.

de-la': The noun "delay" (Ac 25:17, "I made no delay"; the King James Version "without any delay") means "procrastination." The verb "to delay" (Ex 22:29; 'achar) involves the idea "to stop for a time," the people being admonished not to discontinue a custom. The Pil. perfect of bush (Ex 32:1), "Moses delayed to come," expresses not only the fact that he tarried, but also the disappointment on the part of the people, being under the impression that he possibly was put to shame and had failed in his mission, which also better explains the consequent action of the people. "To delay" (chronizo) is used transitively in Mt 24:48 (the Revised Version (British and American) "My lord tarrieth") and in Lu 12:45. The meaning here is "to prolong," "to defer."

A. L. Breslich