Decay vs Delay - What's the difference?
decay | delay |
The process or result of being gradually decomposed.
* 1895 , H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
A deterioration of condition.
To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.
# (intransitive, electronics, of storage media or the data on them) To undergo , that is, gradual degradation.
# (intransitive, computing, of software) To undergo , that is, to fail to be updated in a changing environment,so as to eventually become legacy or obsolete.
# (intransitive, physics, of a satellite's orbit) To undergo prolonged reduction in altitude (above the orbited body).
(of organic material) To rot, to go bad.
(intransitive, transitive, physics, chemistry, of an unstable atom) To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons.
* 2005 , Encyclopedia of Earth Science (edited by Timothy M. Kusky; ISBN 0-8160-4973-4), page 349:
(intransitive, transitive, physics, of a quantum system) To undergo , that is, to relax to a less excited state, usually by emitting a photon or phonon.
(aviation)
To cause to rot or deteriorate.
* Shakespeare
To put off until a later time; to defer.
* Bible, (w) xxiv. 48
To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=10
, passage=Mr. Cooke had had a sloop?yacht built at Far Harbor, the completion of which had been delayed , and which was but just delivered. […] The Maria had a cabin, which was finished in hard wood and yellow plush, and accommodations for keeping things cold.}}
(label) To allay; to temper.
* (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
A period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.
* Bible, Acts xxv. 17
* Macaulay
(obsolete) To dilute, temper.
(obsolete) To assuage, quench, allay.
* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.12:
As nouns the difference between decay and delay
is that decay is the process or result of being gradually decomposed while delay is a period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.As verbs the difference between decay and delay
is that decay is to deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality while delay is to put off until a later time; to defer.decay
English
(wikipedia decay)Noun
- I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable. It struck me as singularly odd, that among the universal decay , this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousand years.
Derived terms
* bacterial decay * decayability * decayable * decayer * orbital decay * particle decay * radioactive decayVerb
(en verb)- The pair loved to take pictures in the decaying hospital on forty-third street.
- 2009 , Francis Lyall, Paul B. Larsen, Space Law: A Treatise , page 120:
- Damaged on lift-off, Skylab was left in orbit until its orbit decayed .
- The cat's body decayed rapidly.
- Uranium decays to radium through a long series of steps with a cumulative half-life of 4.4 billion years.
- The extreme humidity decayed the wooden sculptures in the museum's collection in a matter of years.
- Infirmity, that decays the wise.
External links
* *delay
English
(wikipedia delay)Etymology 1
From (etyl) . More at let (to hinder), late, leave.Verb
(en verb)- My lord delayeth his coming.
- The watery showers delay the raging wind.
Usage notes
* This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . SeeSynonyms
* See also * adjourn * defer * forslow * postpone * put off * put on ice * suspendNoun
(en noun)- the delay before the echo of a sound
- Without any delay , on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat.
- The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day.
Etymology 2
From (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)- Those dreadfull flames she also found delayd / And quenched quite like a consumed torch […].
