delays 1 of 2

noun

plural of delay
as in waits
an instance or period of being prevented from going about one's business there was a delay for our boarding while the airplane unloaded incoming passengers

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

delays

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of delay
1
as in lingers
to move or act slowly she ordered the kids to stop delaying and to get to bed

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in postpones
to assign to a later time our guests delayed their departure until after dinner

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of delays
Noun
The opening of the III Points fest sounded a sour note for thousands of fans who poured into Wynwood for a weekend of music only to experience ticketing issues, delays and chaos among the crowd. — Isabel Rivera, Miami Herald, 18 Oct. 2026 Musk has repeatedly treated the sports car as a lower priority than Tesla’s other projects, while also blaming supply chain shortages for earlier delays. — Bilin Lin, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026 The freight forwarder said Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Port is congested with 10-to-12-day landside delays after cargo is discharged. — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2026 Investors should have access to regular updates on project progress and material changes, including delays or changes to development costs or timelines. — Jill Jones, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026 The company said the delays could also include supporting local governments with projects and connecting new customers to service. — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 16 Oct. 2026 Motorists should expect significant delays and traffic holds throughout the day. — Renee Anderson, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026 Production on The Batman II, which stars Robert Pattinson, had already experienced several delays before Reeves was forced to step away. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2026 Traditional atomic projects often face extensive delays because safety reviews generally encompass both the reactor and its major steam-generating systems. — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 10 Oct. 2026
Verb
Even if Illinois delays its natural gas plant closings, the state will need more batteries, and Richardson is rushing to provide them. — John Lippert, Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct. 2026 In this scenario, the heart attack now drives the pricing, while the prostate cancer delays the application. — Howard Wolinsky, STAT, 7 Oct. 2026 Fat actually delays gastric emptying and digestion even more, keeping blood sugar much steadier. — Mira Miller, Verywell Health, 17 Sep. 2026 Tennis has always been highly dependent on the weather; unlike in soccer or football, rain cancels or delays a match until the court is dry enough to be playable. — Aaron Short, Curbed, 3 Sep. 2026 But a provision that delays for one month a federal ban on intoxicating hemp THC products has prompted criticism from many GOP lawmakers. — Kevin Freking, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026 So pretending imbalance isn't happening — like when one partner is regularly absorbing all the work and smiling through it — just delays the same resentment that often festers in exchange relationships. — Mark Travers, CNBC, 30 Aug. 2026 That is not only a problem for expanding power grid infrastructure to support growing electricity demand, but also delays the process of replacing aging power transformers. — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 24 Aug. 2026 Nearly all report that the process contributes to burnout and delays care. — Richard Menger Md Mpa, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for delays
  1. waits
  2. lingers
  3. postpones
  4. drags
  5. defers
  6. crawls
  7. pokes
  8. lags
Noun
  • International funding, Patil says, means long waits, complicated contracts and co-production treaties, and Indian filmmakers end up chasing the same grants as professionals from wealthier countries.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Long lines can be a strong deterrent to voting, especially for Black and Latino voters, who on average have experienced longer waits than white voters, according to a June 2020 report by the Brennan Center for Justice.
    — TIME Staff, Time, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of waits
Verb
  • Lingering at the ventanita the way Malik Willis lingers in the pocket before taking a sack?
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Corduroy’s dusty reputation still lingers, but the material itself has become more supple, richer, and far more sophisticated in recent years.
    — John Vorwald, Robb Report, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of lingers
Verb
  • The injury postpones any plans to send the 20-year-old out on loan.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Or someone managing diabetes who postpones a preventive visit because grocery shopping, prescription pickups, and coordinating multiple specialists compete for limited time and energy.
    — Aimée K. Dailey, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of postpones
Verb
  • However, Fed officials fear that the longer the war drags on, the higher the likelihood that the spike will make its way through the broader economy and become embedded in consumer and business expectations.
    — Jeff Cox, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2026
  • As the comet rotates, fresh ice enters the sunlight and sublimates; the escaping gas then drags entrained dust particles away from the nucleus.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of drags
Verb
  • But the order only defers the tax obligation, creating confusion about whether truckers may have to pay up at some point.
    — Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 9 Oct. 2026
  • But holding back defers crucial conversations about goals, methods, and the limits of American aid.
    — Dafna H. Rand, Foreign Affairs, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of defers
Verb
  • There’s also a less than 10% chance of showers, if one of the hurricanes crawls farther up the coast, according to Wofford.
    — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Hairy-nosed wombat births are hard to spot, as after about a 30-day pregnancy, the joey crawls into its mother’s pouch.
    — Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawls
Verb
  • And yet there’s this piece in the policy which pokes its head [and forces them to find a surrogate in Texas].
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The International Kazoo Championship pokes a little fun at the rigidity of the main stage.
    — David Alm, Longreads, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of pokes
Verb
  • Some states, most notably California, are helping to pick up the slack, but investment still lags behind potential.
    — Sara Herschander, Vox, 15 Oct. 2026
  • With early signals that are ambiguous and without a clear shock, mobilization lags.
    — Raj Panjabi, Time, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of lags

Browse Nearby Words

delaying
delays
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Cite this Entry

“Delays.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/delays. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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