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.

Delay \De*lay"\, v. i.
   To move slowly; to stop for a time; to linger; to tarry.

         There seem to be certain bounds to the quickness and
         slowness of the succession of those ideas, . . . beyond
         which they can neither delay nor hasten. --Locke.

Delay \De*lay"\, n.; pl. {Delays}. [F. d['e]lai, fr. OF. deleer
   to delay, or fr. L. dilatum, which, though really from a
   different root, is used in Latin only as a p. p. neut. of
   differre to carry apart, defer, delay. See {Tolerate}, and
   cf. {Differ}, {Delay}, v.]
   A putting off or deferring; procrastination; lingering
   inactivity; stop; detention; hindrance.

         Without any delay, on the morrow I sat on the judgment
         seat.                                    --Acts xxv.
                                                  17.

         The government ought to be settled without the delay of
         a day.                                   --Macaulay.

Source : WordNet®

delay
     n 1: time during which some action is awaited; "instant replay
          caused too long a delay"; "he ordered a hold in the
          action" [syn: {hold}, {time lag}, {postponement}, {wait}]
     2: the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being
        put off until a later time [syn: {holdup}]
     v 1: cause to be slowed down or delayed; "Traffic was delayed by
          the bad weather"; "she delayed the work that she didn't
          want to perform" [syn: {detain}, {hold up}] [ant: {rush}]
     2: act later than planned, scheduled, or required; "Don't delay
        your application to graduate school or else it won't be
        considered"
     3: stop or halt; "Please stay the bloodshed!" [syn: {stay}, {detain}]
     4: slow the growth or development of; "The brain damage will
        retard the child's language development" [syn: {check}, {retard}]