Library / English Dictionary

DEFER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: deferred    , deferring   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Yield to another's wish or opinion

Example:

The government bowed to the military pressure

Synonyms:

accede; bow; defer; give in; submit

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "defer" is one way to...):

buckle under; give in; knuckle under; succumb; yield (consent reluctantly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to somebody

Derivation:

deference (courteous regard for people's feelings)

deferent (showing deference)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hold back to a later time

Example:

let's postpone the exam

Synonyms:

defer; hold over; postpone; prorogue; put off; put over; remit; set back; shelve; table

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "defer" is one way to...):

delay (act later than planned, scheduled, or required)

"Defer" entails doing...:

reschedule (assign a new time and place for an event)

call off; cancel; scratch; scrub (postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "defer"):

call (stop or postpone because of adverse conditions, such as bad weather)

hold (stop dealing with)

suspend (render temporarily ineffective)

probate (put a convicted person on probation by suspending his sentence)

reprieve; respite (postpone the punishment of a convicted criminal, such as an execution)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

deferment; deferral (act of putting off to a future time)

Credits

 Context examples: 

"You would not be six hours later," said Willoughby, "if you were to defer your journey till our return."

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

She had resolved to defer the disclosure till Mrs. Weston were safe and well.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

I deferred it all till his praise should be proved the praise of a friend, as this day does prove it.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The letter, whence sprang all this felicity, was short, containing little more than this assurance of success; and every particular was deferred till James could write again.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

But there goes the bell, and as I stand to win a little on this next race, I shall defer a lengthy explanation until a more fitting time.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Donor re-entry request: An applicant's request to re-enter a deferred donor when regulations and/or guidance do not provide a qualification method or process for their specific situation. (21 CFR 610.41(b)) License re-issuance: request from applicant to change legal name.

(Correspondence, Food and Drug Administration)

Also called deferred therapy.

(Expectant management, NCI Dictionary)

One day only had passed since Anne's conversation with Mrs Smith; but a keener interest had succeeded, and she was now so little touched by Mr Elliot's conduct, except by its effects in one quarter, that it became a matter of course the next morning, still to defer her explanatory visit in Rivers Street.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Allow me to say that I fully defer to the reasonable character of that inquiry, and proceed to develop it; premising that it is not an object of a pecuniary nature.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Jane, you don't like my narrative; you look almost sick—shall I defer the rest to another day?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)