1[intransitiveI, transitiveT]POSTPONE/DO LATER to wait until a later time to do something 推迟,延期〔做某事〕
Don’t delay – send off for the information now.
别犹豫——即刻去函索取信息。
He delayed his decision on whether to call an election.
在是否宣布举行选举一事上,他推迟作出决定。
delay something until something
The opening of this section of the road is delayed until September.
这一路段推迟到9月份启用。
delay something for something
Our meeting was delayed for ten minutes.
我们的会议推迟了十分钟。
delay doing something
Big companies often delay paying their bills.
大公司常常会拖延支付账单。
2[transitiveT]DELAY to make someone or something late 耽误,耽搁
seriously/badly/slightly etc delayed
The flight was badly delayed because of fog.
该航班因雾而长时间延误。
—delayedadjectiveadj
THESAURUS
delay to wait until a later time to do something 推迟,延期〔做某事〕
He decided to delay his decision until he had seen the full report.
他决定推迟作出决定,直至看到完整的报告。
postpone to change an event to a later time or date 推迟〔活动〕
The meeting was postponed.
会议推迟了。
put off to delay doing something. Put off is less formal than delay or postpone, and is the usualphrase to use in everyday English 推迟〔与delay和postpone相比不那么正式,常用于日常英语〕
I used to put off making difficult decisions.
我过去常常在要作困难的决定时拖拖拉拉。
The game has been put off till next week.
比赛推迟到下周举行。
hold off to delay doing something, especially while you are waiting for more information or for something else to happen 〔尤在等待更多信息或某事发生的同时〕推迟
House buyers seem to be holding off until interest rates drop.
房屋买家似乎在等利率下跌后再出手。
defer formal to delay doing something until a later date, usually because something else needs to happen first 〔通常因其他事需要先发生而〕延期,推迟〔做某事〕
The decision had been deferred until after a meeting of the directors.
这个决定被延至董事会议之后作出。
nShe decided to defer her university application for a year so that she could go travelling.
procrastinate /prəˈkræstəneɪt/ formal to delay doing something that you ought to do 延期,推迟〔应该做的事情〕
Don’t procrastinate – make a start on your assignments as soon as you get them.
delayed ... decision• But what did matter was the effect of a delayed decision on his schedule.• What is particularly interesting is that the report implies that it was MI5 who endlessly delayed any decision rather than the prisonauthorities.• If Wieben Stock had believed otherwise, she could have delayed her decision until after the trial, attorneyspointed out.