- (transitive) to delay or cause to be delayed until a future time; postpone
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
de•fer1 /dɪˈfɜr/USA pronunciation
v. [ ~ + obj], -ferred, -fer•ring.
de•fer2 /dɪˈfɜr/USA pronunciation v. [ ~ + to + obj], -ferred, -fer•ring.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to postpone;
delay;
put off action on:The pension is deferred until after age 65. - Militaryto exempt temporarily from being drafted into military service:He was deferred because he was in college.
de•fer2 /dɪˈfɜr/USA pronunciation v. [ ~ + to + obj], -ferred, -fer•ring.
- to yield respectfully in judgment or opinion:I deferred to my father's authority.
de•fer1
(di fûr′),USA pronunciation v., -ferred, -fer•ring.
v.t.
v.i.
de•fer′rer, n.
de•fer2 (di fûr′),USA pronunciation v., -ferred, -fer•ring.
v.i.
v.t.
v.t.
- to put off (action, consideration, etc.) to a future time:The decision has been deferred by the board until next week.
- Militaryto exempt temporarily from induction into military service.
v.i.
- to put off action;
delay.
- Middle English deferren, variant of differren to differ 1325–75
- 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.
de•fer2 (di fûr′),USA pronunciation v., -ferred, -fer•ring.
v.i.
- to yield respectfully in judgment or opinion (usually fol. by to):We all defer to him in these matters.
v.t.
- to submit for decision;
refer:We defer questions of this kind to the president.
- Latin dēferre to carry from or down, report, accuse, equivalent. to dē- de- + ferre to bear1
- late Middle English deferren 1400–50
- 1. accede, submit, acquiesce, capitulate.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
defer /dɪˈfɜː/ vb ( -fers, -ferring, -ferred)
defer /dɪˈfɜː/ vb ( -fers, -ferring, -ferred)
- (intransitive) followed by to: to yield (to) or comply (with) the wishes or judgments of another
'defer' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
adjourn
- carry over
- deference
- deferent
- delay
- dilatory
- hold over
- pigeonhole
- postpone
- procrastinate
- put over
- remit
- submit
- waive
- Alphonse and Gaston
- back-load
- bow
- charge
- deferment
- deferrable
- deferral
- deferred
- differ
- 401(k)
- hold
- jib
- nondeferable
- nondeferrable
- prorogue
- put
- recess
- undeferrable
- shelve
- suspend