DEFER (deferred, deferring)
Dictionary entry overview: What does defer mean?
• DEFER (verb)
The verb DEFER has 2 senses:
1. hold back to a later time
2. submit or yield to another's wish or opinion
Familiarity information: DEFER used as a verb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
• DEFER (verb)
Meaning:
Hold back to a later time
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Synonyms:
shelve; set back; put off; prorogue; postpone; defer; table; put over; remit; hold over
Context example:
let's postpone the exam
Hypernyms (to "defer" is one way to...):
delay (act later than planned, scheduled, or required)
"Defer" entails doing...:
reschedule (assign a new time and place for an event)
call off; cancel; scratch; scrub (postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "defer"):
call (stop or postpone because of adverse conditions, such as bad weather)
hold (stop dealing with)
suspend (render temporarily ineffective)
probate (put a convicted person on probation by suspending his sentence)
reprieve; respite (postpone the punishment of a convicted criminal, such as an execution)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Meaning:
Submit or yield to another's wish or opinion
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
accede; give in; bow; defer; submit
Context example:
The government bowed to the military pressure
Hypernyms (to "defer" is one way to...):
buckle under; give in; knuckle under; succumb; yield (consent reluctantly)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s to somebody
