DEFER • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Defer

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/dɪfˈər/ Listen

verb

Defer v. t. (past & past part. deferred; pres. part. deferring) To put off; to postpone to a future time; to delay the execution of; to delay; to withhold. "Defer the spoil of the city until night." "God... will not long defer To vindicate the glory of his name."

Defer v. t.

To render or offer. (Obs.) "Worship deferred to the Virgin."

To lay before; to submit in a respectful manner; to refer; with to. "Hereupon the commissioners... deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland."

Defer v. i. To put off; to delay to act; to wait. "Pius was able to defer and temporize at leisure."

Defer v. i. To yield deference to the wishes of another; to submit to the opinion of another, or to authority; with to. "The house, deferring to legal right, acquiesced."

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Etymology of 'Defer'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Defer" Quotes from Famous Books

... have told him the facts, and satisfied him that my mother was innocent! But I waited until Hannah could get away in peace, and before she was ready to start God called him home. In heaven of course he knows it all now. I promised Hannah to tell no one but him, and to defer the explanation until she was safe, entirely beyond the reach of his displeasure; but since you suspected my mother, it is right that I should ...

— Infelice • Augusta Jane Evans Wilson

... comest when I had thee least in mind! In thy power it lieth me to save; Yet of my good will I give thee, if ye will be kind, Yea, a thousand pound shalt thou have, And defer ...

— Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse • Various

... the first attempt failed through the resolute resistance of parliament. He was now present to lend his active co-operation. Yet with all his exertions the king could not silence the opposition of the judges,[618] and was finally induced to defer a third attempt until the year 1557, and to give a different form to the undertaking. In the month of February of this year, Henry applied to the Pontiff, begging him to appoint, by Apostolic brief, a commission ...

— The Rise of the Hugenots, Vol. 1 (of 2) • Henry Martyn Baird

... walked slowly down the street, stopping to speak with any one he knew however slightly, that he might defer his entrance into the dark and empty cottage at Les Praz-Conduits. He drew near to the hotel where Chayne was staying and saw under the lamp above the door a guide whom he knew talking with a young girl. The young girl raised her head. It was she who had said, "I am sorry." As Michel ...

— Running Water • A. E. W. Mason

... seat to which he was invited. It was the stool on which he sat when in the cabin before. It cost him a greater effort than can be explained to defer to this defiant fellow, who a few weeks or even days before would have cringed at his feet ...

— The Jungle Fugitives • Edward S. Ellis

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