Search results
- DictionaryDe·fer/dəˈfər/
verb
- 1. put off (an action or event) to a later time; postpone: "they deferred the decision until February"
The defer having to do with allowing someone else to decide or choose something, or with agreeing to follow someone else’s decision, tradition, etc., (as in “He deferred to his parents’ wishes”) comes from the Latin verb dēferre, meaning “to bring down, convey, transfer, submit.”
Defer definition: to put off (action, consideration, etc.) to a future time. See examples of DEFER used in a sentence.
to delay something until a later time; to postpone: You can order the furniture now and defer payment until September.
to delay something until a later time: defer action/a decision The committee decided to defer a decision on the takeover bid until a later date. defer tax / payment. defer doing sth The scheme enables investors to defer paying taxes on the gain.
To defer is to decide to do something at a more convenient time in the future; it often suggests avoidance: to defer making a payment. delay is sometimes equivalent to defer, but it usu. suggests a hindrance or dilatory tactic: Completion of the work was deferred by bad weather.
Defer means to put off or delay. You can try to defer the inevitable by pushing “snooze” and falling back asleep, but eventually you're going to have to get up. If you're excellent at pushing things to a later date and a master at procrastination, then you already know how to defer.
If you defer to someone, you accept their opinion or do what they want you to do, even when you do not agree with it yourself, because you respect them or their authority. Doctors are encouraged to defer to experts.
defer (doing) something to delay something until a later time synonym put off. The department deferred the decision for six months. She had applied for deferred admission to college.
To give in to the wish or judgment of another, as in showing respect; yield with courtesy ( to) To commit or entrust to another. The principal deferred the decision to the school board. To postpone the induction of (one eligible for the military draft).
DEFER definition: to arrange for something to happen at a later time: . Learn more.
