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Webster 1913 Edition


Defer

De-fer′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Deferred
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Deferring
.]
[OE.
differren
, F.
différer
, fr. L.
differre
to delay, bear different ways;
dis-
+
ferre
to bear. See
Bear
to support, and cf.
Differ
,
Defer
to offer.]
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.
Shakespeare
God . . . will not long
defer

To vindicate the glory of his name.
Milton.

De-fer′

,
Verb.
I.
To put off; to delay to act; to wait.
Pius was able to
defer
and temporize at leisure.
J. A. Symonds.

De-fer′

,
Verb.
T.
[F.
déférer
to pay deference, to yield, to bring before a judge, fr. L.
deferre
to bring down;
de-
+
ferre
to bear. See
Bear
to support, and cf.
Defer
to delay,
Delate
.]
1.
To render or offer.
[Obs.]
Worship
deferred
to the Virgin.
Brevint.
2.
To lay before; to submit in a respectful manner; to refer; – with to.
Hereupon the commissioners . . .
deferred
the matter to the Earl of Northumberland.
Bacon.

De-fer′

,
Verb.
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.
Bancroft.

Webster 1828 Edition


Defer

DEFER

,
Verb.
T.
[L. To bear.]
1.
To delay; to put off; to postpone to a future time; as, to defer the execution of a design.
When thou vowest a vow, defer not to pay it. Eccles. 5.
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick. Prov. 13.
2.
To refer; to leave to anothers judgment and determination.
[In this sense, refer is now used.]

Definition 2024


defer

defer

English

Verb

defer (third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred)

  1. (transitive) To delay or postpone; especially to postpone induction into military service.
    • Shakespeare
      Defer the spoil of the city until night.
    • 1818, Mary Shelley, chapter 3, in Frankenstein:
      My departure for Ingolstadt, which had been deferred by these events, was now again determined upon.
  2. (American football) After winning the opening coin toss, to postpone until the start of the second half a team's choice of whether to kick off or receive (and to allow the opposing team to make this choice at the start of the first half).
  3. (intransitive) To delay, to wait.
    • Milton
      God [] will not long defer / To vindicate the glory of his name.
Related terms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Verb

defer (third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred)

  1. (law) To submit to the opinion or desire of another in respect to their judgment or authority.
    • Francis Bacon
      Hereupon the commissioners [] deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland.
    • 1899, Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, section 2
      "Well, I must defer to your judgment. You are captain," he said with marked civility.
  2. To render, to offer.
    • Brevint
      worship deferred to the Virgin
Derived terms
Translations

Anagrams


Latin

Verb

dēfer

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of dēferō