postpone verb [transitiveT] to change the date or time of a planned event or action to a later one
The game was postponed because of heavy snow.
We had to postpone the trip because of my father’s illness.
The trial has been postponed until November.
put something offphrasal verbphr v [transitiveT] to decide to do something later than you planned to do it or later than you should do it, especially because there is a problem or because you do not want to do it now
I really should go to the dentist, but I keep putting it off.
The concert’s been put off till next week.
The committee decided to put off making any decision until the new year.
delay verb [transitiveT] to not do something until something else has happened or until a more suitable time
He decided to delay his departure until after he’d seen the Director.
Police delayed making any announcement until the girl’s relatives had been contacted.
procrastinate verb [intransitiveI] formal to delay doing something that you ought to do, usually because you do not want to do it – used especially to show disapproval
Kerry procrastinated for as long as possible before firing anyone.
He had been procrastinating over starting the work.
be pushed/moved/put back if an event is pushed back, someone arranges for it to be held at a later time or date than originally planned
Their meeting has been put back to next Thursday.
The museum’s opening date was pushed back so that safety checks could be carried out.
The game on April 1 has been moved back to April 5.
shelve verb [transitiveT] to decide not to continue with a plan, project etc now although it may be considered again at some time in the future
Plans for a new stadium have been shelved for now.
The city shelved the project due to lack of funding.
put something on ice/put something on the back burner to decide not to continue with a plan, project etc until a later time. These expressions are rather informal and are often used in business English
The project has had to be put on ice due to lack of funding.
Blears called for the discussions to be put on ice until after the elections.
The plan seems to have been put on the back burner.
postponed indefinitely• A referendum to determine the future of the island has been postponed indefinitely.• However, the trial has been postponed indefinitely.• No doubt this explainswhyelections there have been postponed indefinitely.• Now it seemed as if they were postponed indefinitely.• On Dec. 13 Landsbergis had announced that a furtherround of preliminaryconsultations had been postponed indefinitely by the Soviet side.
ADVERB | VERB + POSTPONE | PREPOSITIONADVERB➤indefinitely無限期推遲◇The event has been postponed indefinitely due to lack of interest.由於反應冷淡,這一活動被無限期地擱置了。➤merely, only僅僅推遲◇The inevitable conflict was merely postponed till the next meeting.衝突無法避免,只不過被推遲到了下一次會議的時候罷了。VERB + POSTPONE➤agree to, decide to同意延期;決定推遲➤be forced to被迫延期▸➤ask sb to要求某人推遲◇Ruth wrote at once, asking Maria to postpone her visit.魯思立刻寫信,要求瑪麗亞推遲來訪。PREPOSITION➤for推遲⋯的時間◇Our visit had been postponed for several weeks.我們的訪問推遲了幾個星期。➤from, to從⋯推遲;推遲到⋯◇The game has been postponed from Wednesday night to Friday night.比賽由週三晚推遲到週五晚。➤till, until推遲至⋯◇The meeting has been postponed until next week.會議推遲至下週。