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Delay vs Limbo - What's the difference?

delay | limbo |

As nouns the difference between delay and limbo

is that delay is a period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity while limbo is the place where innocent souls exist temporarily until they can enter heaven, notably those of the saints who died before the advent of christ (limbus patruum'') and those of unbaptized but innocent children (''limbus infantum ) or limbo can be a dance played by taking turns crossing under a horizontal bar or stick the stick is lowered with each round, and the game is won by the player who passes under the bar in the lowest position.

As a verb delay

is to put off until a later time; to defer or delay can be (obsolete) to dilute, temper.

delay

English

(wikipedia delay)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) . More at let (to hinder), late, leave.

Verb

(en verb)
  • To put off until a later time; to defer.
  • * Bible, (w) xxiv. 48
  • My lord delayeth his coming.
  • 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)
  • The watery showers delay the raging wind.
    Usage notes
    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See
    Synonyms
    * See also * adjourn * defer * forslow * postpone * put off * put on ice * suspend

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.
  • the delay before the echo of a sound
  • * Bible, Acts xxv. 17
  • Without any delay , on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat.
  • * Macaulay
  • The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To dilute, temper.
  • (obsolete) To assuage, quench, allay.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.12:
  • Those dreadfull flames she also found delayd / And quenched quite like a consumed torch […].

    Anagrams

    * *

    limbo

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (wikipedia limbo)
  • The place where innocent souls exist temporarily until they can enter heaven, notably those of the saints who died before the advent of Christ (limbus patruum'') and those of unbaptized but innocent children (''limbus infantum ).
  • Any in-between place, state or condition of neglect or oblivion which results in an unresolved status, delay or deadlock.
  • My application has been stuck in bureaucratic limbo for two weeks.

    See also

    * aftermath * hell * paradise * purgatory

    Etymology 2

    Word of uncertain West Indian (notably Jamaican) origin, probably an alteration of (limber) as it is a physical agility test.

    Noun

    (-)
  • A dance played by taking turns crossing under a horizontal bar or stick. The stick is lowered with each round, and the game is won by the player who passes under the bar in the lowest position.
  • References

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    Anagrams

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