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# delay

«delay» in Mova's school dictionary: **a time when something happens later than planned** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a delay, delays); verb (delay, delays, delayed, delaying)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A delay is a time when something happens later than planned. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/#m1)

2) To delay means to make something happen later, or to make someone late. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/#m2)

3) To delay means to wait before doing something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life there are delays on trains, buses and planes; announcements tell travellers about them. In maths time problems, a delay adds minutes to the arrival time. In safety, do not delay calling for help. Phrases: without delay, a short delay, delayed by, flight delay.

### examples

- Our flight had a two-hour delay. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/#x1)
- The train was delayed by snow. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/#x2)
- Don't delay; do your homework now. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/#x3)
- Call for help without delay if someone is hurt. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/#x4)
- Sorry for the delay in answering. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/#x5)
- The rain delayed the start of the match. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/#x6)
- The bus should arrive at 3:00 but has a 15-minute delay, so it arrives at 3:15. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/#x7)
- In this way she will be delayed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/#x8)

### note

Regular verb: delayed (keep the y because a vowel comes before it), delaying. Countable noun: a delay, delays. In maths, new time = planned time + delay.

### In the corpora

- [Bright screens and exciting games keep the brain alert and can delay melatonin, the sleepy hormone that rises when it gets dark.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/363-sleep-and-dreams-in-people/13/)
- [Prank calls to emergency numbers can delay help for someone who is really in danger.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/333-saying-no-honestly-harmful-lies-cheating-jokes-and-teasing/22/)
- [Lag is a delay between what you press and what happens in an online game.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/409-lag-crashes-and-blaming-the-wifi/23/)
- [Thou shalt not delay to offer of the fulness of thy harvest, and of the outflow of thy presses.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.644/)
- [I made haste, and delayed not, to observe Thy commandments.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PSA.2223/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «delay» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delay/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.