delay

　　vt. vi. 耽搁,延误 be late; move or act slowly, especially on purpose

　　vt. 推迟,使延期 put off until later; postpone

　　同义词

　　n. hold，holdup，postponement，time lag

　　v. detain，hold up，retard，stay

　　反义词

　　v. hurry，rush

　　词汇辨析

　　delay，postpone，defer，suspend，prolong，put off

　　这些动词或短语动词均有 推延，延期 之意。

　　delay 普通用词，多指因外界原因推迟或耽误，也可指有意推迟。

　　postpone 正式用词，语气较强，多指有安排的延期，常指明延期到一定的时间。

　　defer 正式用词，语气强于postpone，多指故意拖延。

　　suspend 指暂时中断以待某种条件的实现。

　　prolong 指把时间延长至超过正常或通常的限度。

　　put off 用词，与postpone同义，但较通俗。

　　参考例句

　　1. The driver delayed the drive until the weather cleared.

　　驾驶员延迟到天气转晴后才出车。

　　2. The situation allows of no delay.

　　情况 不容许有任何延误。

　　3. It was impossible to delay her at such a crisis.

　　在这样一个紧要关头来耽搁她是不可能的。

　　例句

　　1.V-T/V-I If you delay doing something, you do not do it immediately or at the planned or expected time, but you leave it until later. 推迟

　　例：For sentimental reasons I wanted to delay my departure until June 1980.

　　由于感情上的原因，我想把启程时间推迟到1980年6月。

　　例：They had delayed having children, for the usual reason, to establish their careers.

　　他们推迟了要孩子，为了要建立事业这个通常的理由。

　　2.V-T To delay someone or something means to make them late or to slow them down. 延误; 耽搁

　　例：Can you delay him in some way?

　　你能用什么办法耽搁他一下吗?

　　例：Various setbacks and problems delayed production.

　　各种各样的挫折和问题延误了生产。

　　3.V-I If you delay, you deliberately take longer than necessary to do something. 拖延

　　例：If he delayed any longer, the sun would be up.

　　如果他再拖延下去，太阳就要升起来了。

　　4.N-VAR If there is a delay, something does not happen until later than planned or expected. 耽搁

　　例：They claimed that such a delay wouldnt hurt anyone.

　　他们声称这样的耽搁不会伤害任何人。

　　5.N-UNCOUNT Delay is a failure to do something immediately or in the required or usual time. 延误

　　例：Well send you a quote without delay.

　　我们会立即向你方报价。

　　常见用法

　　用作动词

　　It was impossible to delay her at such a crisis.

　　在这样一个紧要关头来耽搁她是不可能的。

　　We decided to delay our wedding until next year.

　　我们决定把婚礼推迟到明年。

　　Our plane was delayed by fog.

　　我们的飞机因大雾而误点了。

　　用作名词

　　The weather is responsible for the delay.

　　由于天气关系才耽搁了。

　　Delay is not permissible, even for a single day.

　　不得延误，即使一日亦不可。

　　There was a delay of two hours before the plane took off.

　　飞机起飞推迟了两个小时。