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Prolong vs Delay - What's the difference?

prolong | delay |

As verbs the difference between prolong and delay

is that prolong is to extend in space or length while delay is to put off until a later time; to defer.

As a noun delay is

a period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.

prolong

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (label) To extend in space or length.
  • (label) To lengthen in time; to extend the duration of; to draw out; to continue.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
    • , chapter=5, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=The departure was not unduly prolonged . In the road Mr. Love and the driver favoured the company with a brief chanty running. “Got it?—No, I ain't, 'old on,—Got it? Got it?—No, 'old on sir.”}}
  • (label) To lengthen temporally; to put off to a distant time; to postpone.

    • Derived terms

    * prolongable * prolongation * prolonger * prolongment

    References

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    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 […].

    External links

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    Anagrams

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