noun/verb · neutral
delay
/dɪˈleɪ/de·LAY
a period of time by which something is late or postponed; to make something happen later than planned
Examples
“The train was delayed for two hours because of a signal failure.”
“Please expect possible delays during peak season.”
“They delayed the meeting until next week.”
Band 8 sentence
“The unexpected delay at the border added two hours to our journey, forcing us to miss the evening tour.”
Collocations
- flight delay
- cause a delay
- delay the departure
Word family
Common mistakes
The flight was lateed.→The flight was delayed.
They postponed the meeting by 2 hours so it was delay.→They postponed the meeting by 2 hours, so it was delayed.
Say it for a higher band
5late→6be late→7+delay
Synonyms
postpone
Easily confused
postpone
“They decided to postpone the conference until next month.”
Related words
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In Travel & Holidays
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