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.