Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Delay \De*lay"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Delayed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Delaying}.] [OF. deleer, delaier, fr. the noun d['e]lai, or
   directly fr. L. dilatare to enlarge, dilate, in LL., to put
   off. See {Delay}, n., and cf. {Delate}, 1st {Defer},
   {Dilate}.]
   1. To put off; to defer; to procrastinate; to prolong the
      time of or before.

            My lord delayeth his coming.          --Matt. xxiv.
                                                  48.

   2. To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time; to
      retard the motion, or time of arrival, of; as, the mail is
      delayed by a heavy fall of snow.

            Thyrsis! whose artful strains have oft delayed The
            huddling brook to hear his madrigal.  --Milton.

   3. To allay; to temper. [Obs.]

            The watery showers delay the raging wind. --Surrey.