Nearby Words
verb (used with object)
1.
to put off (action, consideration, etc.) to a future time: The decision has been deferred by the board until next week.
2.
to exempt temporarily from induction into military service.
verb (used without object)
3.
to put off action; delay.
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Defer
is a GRE word you need to know.
So is dehydrate. Does it mean:
| to remove water from |
| to fall below a normal or desirable level in physical, mental, or moral qualities |
Related forms
de·fer·rer, noun
Synonyms
1. Defer, delay, postpone imply keeping something from occurring until a future time. To defer is to decide to do something later on: to defer making a payment. To delay is sometimes equivalent to defer, but usually it is to act in a dilatory manner and thus lay something aside: to delay one's departure. To postpone a thing is to put it off to (usually) some particular time in the future, with the intention of beginning or resuming it then: to postpone an election. 3. procrastinate.
1. Defer, delay, postpone imply keeping something from occurring until a future time. To defer is to decide to do something later on: to defer making a payment. To delay is sometimes equivalent to defer, but usually it is to act in a dilatory manner and thus lay something aside: to delay one's departure. To postpone a thing is to put it off to (usually) some particular time in the future, with the intention of beginning or resuming it then: to postpone an election. 3. procrastinate.
Example Sentences
- Experts generally recommend that you defer taxes as long as possible.
- Forming my own opinions about what war feels like, I don't have to defer to him anymore.
- We also defer to the trappings of authority.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used without object)
1.
to yield respectfully in judgment or opinion (usually followed by to): We all defer to him in these matters.
verb (used with object)
2.
to submit for decision; refer: We defer questions of this kind to the president.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To defer
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
defer
"delay," late 14c., from O.Fr. differer, from L. differre "set apart, put off, delay," also "be different, differ," from dis- "apart" + ferre "carry" (see infer). Etymologically identical with differ; the spelling and pronunciation differentiated from 15c., partly by association
EXPANDof this word with delay.
defer
"yield," late 15c., from M.Fr. deferer, from L. deferre "carry away, transfer, grant;" modern sense is from meaning "refer (a matter) to someone," from de- "down, away" + ferre "carry" (see infer).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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