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Defer   Listen
verb
Defer  v. t.  (past & past part. deferred; pres. part. deferring)  To put off; to postpone to a future time; to delay the execution of; to delay; to withhold. "Defer the spoil of the city until night." "God... will not long defer To vindicate the glory of his name."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Defer" Quotes from Famous Books



... make every possible provision for a lengthy stay where they were, should such prove to be necessary. That Cavendish would never abandon them they knew, but it was easy to think of a dozen circumstances or accidents to defer his ...
— Across the Spanish Main - A Tale of the Sea in the Days of Queen Bess • Harry Collingwood

... same field as the hounds, unless you know the country—then you can't be left behind without a struggle. To keep in the same field as the hounds when they are running, is more than any man can undertake to do. Make your commencement in an easy country, and defer trying the pasture counties until you are sure of yourself ...
— A New Illustrated Edition of J. S. Rarey's Art of Taming Horses • J. S. Rarey

... house, gazed at every window, passed it and repassed it, placed my hand upon the rapper, withdrawn it, passed it and repassed it again, stood hesitating and consulting with myself, then resolved to defer it till the next day, and finally returned to my master, not with a direct lie, but a broad equivocation; and this was another of the cousins-german which procrastination ...
— Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, XXII • various

... he wished to see Mr. Mainwaring on business of special importance. He at first seemed rather insistent, but, on learning that Mr. Mainwaring was out and that he would receive no business calls for a day or two, he readily consented to defer his ...
— That Mainwaring Affair • Maynard Barbour

... he unclasped her clinging arms; very tenderly he kissed her lips, bidding her give one to Miggie, and then he left her, turning back ere he reached the gate, as a new idea struck him. Would NINA go with him; go to her Florida home, if so he would defer his journey a day or so. He wondered he had not thought of this before. It would save him effectually, and he ...
— Darkness and Daylight • Mary J. Holmes

... while Mrs. Jog rejoined that he was 'sure to break his neck'—breaking their necks being, as she conceived, the inevitable end of fox-hunters. Jog, who had not prosecuted the sport of hunting long enough to be able to gainsay her assertion, though he took especial care to defer the operation of breaking his own neck as long as he could, fell back upon the expense and inconvenience of keeping Mr. Sponge and his three horses, and his saucy servant, who had taught their domestics to turn up their ...
— Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour • R. S. Surtees

... the remainder of my books, and also my Stocks which were left in Chancery Lane. Mon Chapeau de Bras take care of till Winter extends his Icy Reign and I shall visit the Metropolis. Tell your father that I am getting in the furniture he spoke of, but shall defer papering and painting till the Recess. The sooner you execute my commands the better. Beware ...
— The Works Of Lord Byron, Letters and Journals, Vol. 1 • Lord Byron, Edited by Rowland E. Prothero

... and rites, neither in "Mlada" nor in "Sniegourochka," is there anything at all comparable to the naked power manifest in "Le Sacre du printemps." But it is particularly in his science of orchestration, the sense of the instruments that makes him appear to defer to them rather than to impose his will on them, that Strawinsky has achieved the thing that his teacher failed of achieving. For Rimsky, despite all his remarkable sense of the chemistry of timbres, despite his fine intention to develop further the science which Berlioz brought so far, was ...
— Musical Portraits - Interpretations of Twenty Modern Composers • Paul Rosenfeld

... more than I can say that I shall be obliged now to obey my grandmother's summons," he said courteously. "Suppose we defer this—this pleasant little ...
— The Prophet of Berkeley Square • Robert Hichens

... exultation Boabdil would have ordered public rejoicings, but the shrewd Yusef shook his head. "The tempest has ceased from one point of the heavens," said he, "but it may begin to rage from another. A troubled sea is beneath us, and we are surrounded by rocks and quicksands: let my lord the king defer rejoicings until all has settled into a calm." El Chico, however, could not remain tranquil in this day of exultation: he ordered his steed to be sumptuously caparisoned, and, issuing out of the ...
— Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada • Washington Irving

... my sensibility and consciousness. I was desirous of reasoning with him and Eubathes upon the state of annihilation of power and transient death which I had suffered when in the water; but they both requested me to defer those inquiries, which required too profound an exertion of thought, till the effects of the shock on my weak constitution were over and my strength was somewhat re- established: and I was the more contented to comply with ...
— Consolations in Travel - or, the Last Days of a Philosopher • Humphrey Davy

... answer to the Emperor contains perhaps necessarily only a repetition of what the Queen wrote in her former letter,[2] she inclines to the opinion that it will be best to defer any answer for the present—the more so, as a moment might possibly arrive when it would be of advantage to be able to write and to refer to ...
— The Letters of Queen Victoria, Volume III (of 3), 1854-1861 • Queen of Great Britain Victoria

... sketch it for me. I am sure, if there be no very prevalent obstacle, you will leave any common business to do this; and I hope to see you this evening, as late as you will, or to-morrow morning as early, before this winter flower is faded. I will defer her interment till to-morrow night. I know you love me, or I could not have written this; I could not (at this time) have written at all. Adieu! May you ...
— Yesterdays with Authors • James T. Fields

... most of the interest in the proposed race, and it was decided to defer further arrangements till the fate of the ...
— The Willoughby Captains • Talbot Baines Reed

... George was right, and it was determined that the two young ones should defer their trial of skill till Tom had recovered the use of his eye, and the bigger boys ...
— Forgotten Tales of Long Ago • E. V. Lucas

... and sixth days of Creation are those to which the theory of development chiefly refers. It will, therefore, be better to defer the consideration of its bearing on the narrative till the relation of that narrative to Geological facts has been considered, since it can only be thoroughly weighed when taken in connexion with the facts which belong ...
— The Story of Creation as told by Theology and by Science • T. S. Ackland

... hadn't struck them before, namely what their mothers would say on the subject of Zouave hair dressing, and as George began to be a little frightened by this time, at the fearful and astonishing results of his patent plan, it was decided to defer the rest of the operation until ...
— Red, White, Blue Socks, Part First - Being the First Book • Sarah L Barrow

... intruders of the same class. But in consequence of certain hints received from Mr. Coates, who represented the absolute necessity of complying with Sir Piers's testamentary instructions, which were particular in that respect, she thought proper to defer her intentions until after the ceremonial of interment should be completed, and, in the mean time, strange to say, committed its arrangement to Titus Tyrconnel; who, ever ready to accommodate, accepted, nothing loth, the charge, and acquitted himself admirably well in his undertaking: ...
— Rookwood • William Harrison Ainsworth

... voice and said: "Hear me, ye suitors of Penelope, while I advise that you defer this trial of your strength until another day. Apollo will then bestow the power on one of you to triumph over the others. Let me practise with the bow to-day, to see if I have any of my youthful strength, or if I have lost ...
— Odysseus, the Hero of Ithaca - Adapted from the Third Book of the Primary Schools of Athens, Greece • Homer

... at Sincapore, and found the roads very gay with vessels of all descriptions, from the gallant free trader of 1000 tons to the Chinese junk. As Sincapore, as well as many other places, was more than once visited, I shall defer my description for the present. On June the 27th we weighed and made sail for the river of Sarawak (Borneo), to pay a visit to Mr. Brooke, who resides at Kuchin, a town situated ...
— Borneo and the Indian Archipelago - with drawings of costume and scenery • Frank S. Marryat

... least, never found a place, and it followed too, that her spiritualized affection stood tests, which purely human love would not have borne. She was never known to fail in the respect or obedience due to her husband; her constant study was to promote his comfort; her unceasing aim not only to defer to, but even to anticipate his slightest wishes, and all was done with the winning sweetness and rare prudence which ...
— The Life of the Venerable Mother Mary of the Incarnation • "A Religious of the Ursuline Community"

... hiding it or forgetting it, and I believe that this Session has the welfare of the church sincerely at heart; but I do not believe the plan you propose will profit either the church or the soul of whom you speak. Her absence at present would, at all events, make it necessary to defer any action. In the mean time, I believe that the Lord will teach me wisdom, and will grant grace and peace to her whose welfare is the subject of your prayers. If I reach any conclusion in the matter which you ought to know, I will communicate with you. If there is no further motion, ...
— John Ward, Preacher • Margaret Deland

... procures to himself much mischief, and runs into a greater inconvenience: he must be willing to be cured, and earnestly desire it. Pars sanitatis velle sanare fuit, (Seneca). 'Tis a part of his cure to wish his own health, and not to defer ...
— The Anatomy of Melancholy • Democritus Junior

... made and this room fitted for us. We should have come here today, but for your change of mind. You demanded to go to Zalapata and he could not refuse. His plan that you should come to the Castle was not changed, but he had to seem to defer to your wishes. To have come directly here would have been a plain disregard of them, so he spent the day in planning this deception, and carried it ...
— Up the Forked River - Or, Adventures in South America • Edward Sylvester Ellis

... was passionately attached to the young lady; but he was also passionately bent on this romantic enterprise. How should he reconcile the two passionate inclinations? A simple and obvious arrangement at length presented itself: marry Serafina, enjoy a portion of the honeymoon at once, and defer the rest until his return from the discovery of the ...
— Wolfert's Roost and Miscellanies • Washington Irving

... however, Robert and his friend did not go by the 10.50 express on the following morning, for the young barrister awoke with such a splitting headache, that he asked George to send him a cup of the strongest green tea that had ever been made at the Sun, and to be furthermore so good as to defer their journey until the next day. Of course George assented, and Robert Audley spent the forenoon in a darkened room with a five-days'-old Chelmsford paper to entertain ...
— Lady Audley's Secret • Mary Elizabeth Braddon

... coughing can be, very often, wholly restrained by mere force of will. This should not be lost sight of by any who are attacked with colds or bronchial troubles, or even in the incipient stages of lung difficulties; as thereby they may lessen the inflammation, and defer the progress of the disease. We have seen people, who, having some slight irritation in the larynx, have, instead of smothering the reflex action, vigorously scraped their throats, and coughed with a persistence entirely unwise, inducing inflammation, ...
— Minnesota; Its Character and Climate • Ledyard Bill

... We have not enfranchised a class less needing to be guided by their betters than the old class; on the contrary, the new class need it more than the old. The real question is, Will they submit to it, will they defer in the same way to wealth and rank, and to the higher qualities of which these are the rough symbols and the ...
— The English Constitution • Walter Bagehot

... within the tradition, for all the industry and erudition of the finest renaissance scholars. Learning of this sort has been respected in China for many ages. One meets old scholars of this type, to whose opinions, even in politics, it is customary to defer, although they have the innocence and unworldliness of the old-fashioned don. They remind one almost of the men whom Lamb describes in his essay on Oxford in the Vacation—learned, lovable, and sincere, but utterly lost in the modern world, basing their opinions of Socialism, ...
— The Problem of China • Bertrand Russell

... Morley fixes it, on probable data, at 1509; but with a latitude of six years on either side. Palissy died in 1589 in the Bastile, where he had been confined four years as a Hugenot; the king and his other friends could defer his trial, but ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 186, May 21, 1853 • Various

... large-sized volume. Moreover, the terrible events of the fall of Khartoum, and the failure of the relieving expedition, were too close at hand to allow of a just view being taken of them, and it was necessary to defer an intention which I never abandoned. It seemed to me that the tenth anniversary of the fall of Khartoum would be an appropriate occasion for the appearance of a Life claiming to give a complete view and final verdict on the remarkable career and character ...
— The Life of Gordon, Volume I • Demetrius Charles Boulger

... it must, I believe, be acknowledged, that he often took the same liberty with those directed to other people. He had indulged in that unjustifiable practice[28] before his elevation, and such was his impatience to open both parcels and letters, that, however employed, he could seldom defer the gratification of his curiosity an instant after either came under his notice or his reach. Josephine, and others, well acquainted with his habits, very pardonably took some advantage of this propensity. Matters which she feared to mention to him were written and directed ...
— Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 8, January, 1851 • Various

... we had better defer this. If, as you suppose, the fellow has knowledge of the French plans, it would be only politic to give Mr. Bourchier an opportunity of inquiring into the matter. No doubt he richly deserves hanging, but dead men ...
— In Clive's Command - A Story of the Fight for India • Herbert Strang

... to make a present to the bride of some Georgian gold lace, and to lend me his horse, a fine Karadaghi, which I might mount on the occasion. He said so much, that he at length persuaded mine and my bride's relations not to defer the ceremony, and a day was fixed. Had any other man pressed the business so much, and appeared so personally interested in it, I should probably have been suspicious of the purity of his intentions, and certain feelings ...
— The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan • James Morier

... without ruining somebody; and he resolved, for his part, to set his face against such doings. On these points he would have maintained his opinion against the largest landed proprietor in Loamshire or Stonyshire either; but he felt that beyond these it would be better for him to defer to people who were more knowing than himself. He saw as plainly as possible how ill the woods on the estate were managed, and the shameful state of the farm-buildings; and if old Squire Donnithorne had asked him the effect of this mismanagement, he would have spoken his opinion ...
— Adam Bede • George Eliot

... Italians have thus far done, since the conclusion of the with Austria, they have not necessarily been brought into conflict with any foreign nation, though they may have terribly offended those legitimate sovereigns who have been accustomed either to give law to Europe or to see public opinion defer considerably to their will. Not a single acquisition thus far made by Victor Emmanuel can be said to have proceeded from any act at which Europe could complain with justice. Lombardy was given to him by his ally of France, ...
— Atlantic Monthly Volume 7, No. 39, January, 1861 • Various

... man's to see the whole of what on Earth he sees in part; Where change shall ne'er surcharge the thought; nor hope defer'd shall hurt ...
— The Kasidah of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi • Richard F. Burton

... "We will defer explanations, Mariquita, if you please, until we reach home. A fly is waiting. We will return as quickly as possible," said the vicar frigidly; and the brother and sister lagged behind as he led the ...
— About Peggy Saville • Mrs. G. de Horne Vaizey

... entirely free in all its stages from self-crippling considerations. As we shall presently see, by an abstract of one of his sermons, preached in the spring of 1843, which was made by Isaac Hecker at the time, Brownson thought it possible to hold all Catholic truth and yet defer entering the Church until she should so far abate her claims as to form a friendly alliance with orthodox Protestantism on terms not too distasteful to the latter. He was not yet willing to depart alone, and hoped by waiting to take others with him, and he was neither ready ...
— Life of Father Hecker • Walter Elliott

... be afraid of leaving the World under the Imputation of Ingratitude, should I any longer defer publishing the very many Favours, which Your Lordship so generously has bestow'd on me in Italy, in Germany, in Flanders, in England; and principally at your delightful Seat at Parson's-Green, ...
— Observations on the Florid Song - or Sentiments on the Ancient and Modern Singers • Pier Francesco Tosi

... not long in coming either, for in less than five minutes a venturesome band of half a dozen teal came swinging in. Too late they saw the boat tied up in the cove, and wheeled to depart, when there was a bang! bang! and several concluded to defer their departure. ...
— The House Boat Boys • St. George Rathborne

... neighbors," Mr. Franklin replied. "I shall consult my wife in this matter, as I do in others, and defer to her opinion. I have always found that her judgment is sound ...
— From Boyhood to Manhood • William M. Thayer

... he acted, and demanding the production of every conceivable argument, yea or nay, and then with toil adjusting the balance between them. If a lot of withies looked cheap, he bought them straightway, and did not defer the bargain for weeks till he could ascertain if he could get them ...
— Miriam's Schooling and Other Papers - Gideon; Samuel; Saul; Miriam's Schooling; and Michael Trevanion • Mark Rutherford

... he received them, he knew not that it was against the Law and manner of the Countrey; and when he did know, he took Council of a Portugueze Priest, (who was now dead) being old and as he thought well experienced in the Countrey. But he advised him to defer a while the carrying them unto the King until a more convenient season. After this he did attempt, he said to bring them unto the King, but could not be permitted to have entrance thro the Watches: so that until now, he could not ...
— An Historical Relation Of The Island Ceylon In The East Indies • Robert Knox

... "Defer all thanks, Sir Knight," said the queen, "until first I state to thee the conditions on which thou yet holdest thy life. It is granted thee to be free of death, if within one year and a day from this present thou art able ...
— The Children's Portion • Various

... old. His father's mask had been forced awry by the emotion of the meeting, so that the boy suddenly realised how much he must have felt their absence. He summoned to his aid the thought: 'Well, I didn't want to go!' It was out of date for Youth to defer to Age. But Jon was by no means typically modern. His father had always been "so jolly" to him, and to feel that one meant to begin again at once the conduct which his father had suffered six weeks' loneliness ...
— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy

... were asked of persons entering or leaving the town, on the land side; and twice strolled out and went some distance into the country. They had agreed that it would be better to defer any attempt to escape until the day before the lugger sailed, as there would then be but little time for the captain to make inquiries after them, or to institute a search. They bought a pocket map of the north of France, ...
— Under Wellington's Command - A Tale of the Peninsular War • G. A. Henty

... juvenes.' (At the sound of so much seriousness Paula turned her eyes upon the speaker with attention.) He next adduced proof of the signification of 'renascor' in the writings of the Fathers, as reasoned by Wall; arguments from Tertullian's advice to defer the rite; citations from Cyprian, Nazianzen, Chrysostom, and Jerome; and briefly ...
— A Laodicean • Thomas Hardy

... she had seen on Jim's face, Belle realized the full meaning of her success and took a woman's pride in the fact that this great, powerful, self-confident, gifted man should in two short encounters completely change about and defer to her judgment. There was a moment's silence in which she sought to get her voice under ...
— The Preacher of Cedar Mountain - A Tale of the Open Country • Ernest Thompson Seton

... everything—but myself. I have made up my mind, so far as the most irresolute creature on earth can do it, to tell my case fully to you. If your engagements will permit, pray come to me to-day, to-morrow, or the next day; but, pray defer as little as possible. You know not how much I need help. I have a quiet house at Richmond, where I now am. Perhaps you can manage to come to dinner, or to luncheon, or even to tea. You shall have no trouble in finding me out. The servant ...
— Green Tea; Mr. Justice Harbottle • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

... evening at five o'clock Tudor Brown had not made his appearance. He knew, however, that the machinery of the "Alaska" would be repaired by that time, and her fires kindled, after which it would be impossible to defer her departure. The captain had been careful to notify every one. He gave the order to ...
— The Waif of the "Cynthia" • Andre Laurie and Jules Verne

... are aware of it, Mr. Prendergast, but I am engaged to be married. And I have been given to understand—that is, I thought that this might take place very soon. My mother seems to think that your coming here may—may defer it. If so, I think I have a right to expect that something shall be told ...
— Castle Richmond • Anthony Trollope

... am, after two days drive in a stage, at the town of Crow Wing, one hundred and thirty miles, a little west of north, from St. Paul. I will defer, however, any remarks on Crow Wing, or the many objects of interest hereabout, till I have mentioned a few things which I saw coming up. Between St. Paul and this place is a tri-weekly line of stages. ...
— Minnesota and Dacotah • C.C. Andrews

... revengeful, Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer, &c. Aeneas patient, considerate, careful of his people, and merciful to his enemies; ever submissive to the will of heaven, quo fata trahunt, retrahuntque, sequamur. I could please myself with enlarging on this subject, but am forced to defer it to a fitter time. From all I have said I will only draw this inference, that the action of Homer being more full of vigour than that of Virgil, according to the temper of the writer, is of consequence more pleasing to the reader. One warms you by degrees; the other sets ...
— English literary criticism • Various

... complaint about his mother, but promised that he would lay those complaints aside when he should return. He withal expressed his entire affection for him, as fearing lest he should have some suspicion of him, and defer his journey to him; and lest, while he lived at Rome, he should lay plots for the kingdom, and, moreover, do somewhat against himself. This letter Antipater met with in Cilicia; but had received an account of Pheroras's death before at Tarentum. This last news ...
— The Antiquities of the Jews • Flavius Josephus

... to ensure that Antarctica is used for peaceful purposes only (such as international cooperation in scientific research); to defer the question of territorial claims asserted by some nations and not recognized by others; to provide an international forum for management of the region; applies to land and ice shelves south of 60 degrees ...
— The 2001 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... fine gravel, mixed in the mortar, prevents the prisoners from cutting themselves out, as that will destroy their tools. In my letter of August the 13th, I mentioned that I could send workmen from hence. As I am in hopes of receiving your orders precisely, in answer to that letter, I shall defer actually engaging any, till I receive them. In like manner, I shall defer having plans drawn for a Governor's house, &c, till further orders; only assuring you, that the receiving and executing these orders, will always give me a very great pleasure, ...
— Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson - Volume I • Thomas Jefferson

... err. Could you, after such a fatal event had happened, defer for one day the long journey imposed ...
— The Mysteries of Paris V2 • Eugene Sue

... gentlemen, to forty yards, and that for ladies to thirty, and also had serious thoughts of challenging the Ackford club to a match. But as this was generally understood to be a crack club, we finally determined to defer our challenge until the ...
— The Magic Egg and Other Stories • Frank Stockton

... opinion convince the court that there was still one person concerned in this crime who had not yet been found, and also that a stay of proceedings ought to be granted, in justice to his clients, until that person should be discovered. As it was late, he would ask leave to defer the examination of his three witnesses until the ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... asked a few questions concerning Alice's home and friends. He replied, that she was in "a wretched fix." Her aunt was a vixen, her home a rigorous prison. He sighed deeply, and seemed unhappy, until the subject was changed,—a relief which Kate had too much tact to defer long. ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 6, April, 1858 • Various

... intended to come to see you to-day, and to bring you the MS. volumes of C. C. G.; but I am very lame with rheumatism in my knee, and the weather is so infernal that I cannot use the carriage, and I am afraid to make the expedition in a cab. I must therefore defer my call till I can move better. On such a day as this one can only burrow like ...
— Memoirs of the Life and Correspondence of Henry Reeve, C.B., D.C.L. - In Two Volumes. VOL. II. • John Knox Laughton

... his mind that Robert would spread the report of the deposit, and nervously awaited the result. But to his relief he observed no change in the demeanor of his fellow-townsmen. He could only conclude that, for reasons of his own, the boy he had wronged had concluded to defer the exposure. Next he heard with a feeling of satisfaction that Robert had decided to go abroad in quest of his father. He had no doubt that Captain Rushton was dead, and regarded the plan as utterly quixotic and foolish, but still he felt glad ...
— Brave and Bold • Horatio Alger, Jr.

... her only chance of escape was at night; and accordingly she was obliged with a bitter pang at the delay to defer till then her ...
— The Last Days of Pompeii • Edward George Bulwer-Lytton

... by Proxy which you can do yourself. Never defer that till To-morrow which you can do To-day. Never neglect small ...
— The Spectator, Volume 2. • Addison and Steele

... came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were upon the earth" (Gen. vii. 10). Why this delay of seven days? Rav says they were the days of mourning for Methuselah; and this teaches us that mourning for the righteous will defer a coming calamity. Another explanation is, that the Holy One—blessed be He!—altered the course of nature during these seven days, so that the sun arose in the west and ...
— Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and - Kabbala • Various

... dear Wedgewood! I truly and at heart love you, and of course it must add to my deeper and moral happiness to be with you, if I can be either assistance or alleviation. If I find myself so well that I defer my Madeira plan, I shall then go forthwith to Devonshire to see my aged mother, once more before she dies, and stay two or three months with my brothers.[109] But, wherever I am, I never suffer a day, (except when I am travelling) ...
— Reminiscences of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey • Joseph Cottle

... Mr. ——— was still quite incommunicative, and not in a very promising state; that I had perhaps better defer seeing him for a few days; that it would not be safe, at present, to send him home to America without an attendant, and this was about all. But on returning home I learned from my wife, who had had a call from Mrs. Blodgett, that Mrs. ...
— Passages From the English Notebooks, Complete • Nathaniel Hawthorne

... divine, "it would be unseemly in me to oppose any plan which may have his countenance. I therefore desire to be set free, that I may fight the Princess's battle with every faculty that God has given me." Bentinck prevailed on Burnet to defer an open declaration of hostilities till William's resolution should be distinctly known. In a few hours the scheme which had excited so much resentment was entirely given up; and all those who considered James as no longer king ...
— The History of England from the Accession of James II. - Volume 2 (of 5) • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... not sure that he wanted to be angry at Dorothy, though he felt it was a duty he owed to himself and to the Stanleys. He had wished that the girl would in some manner defer the signing of the contract, but he had not wanted her to refuse young Stanley's hand in a manner so insulting that the match ...
— Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall • Charles Major

... killed or wounded," said Percy. "Some of the Zulus may have firearms, or they may venture near enough to hurl their assegais. You will have done all that is necessary by showing yourselves as at present in martial array, and I feel very sure that the enemy, when they see you, will defer their attack until they come up under cover of the darkness to try ...
— Hendricks the Hunter - The Border Farm, a Tale of Zululand • W.H.G. Kingston

... Gk kta possess; Dak kta defer, tarry, used also as sign of future tense. The Mandan future inflection -kit -kt -t appears to ...
— The Dakotan Languages, and Their Relations to Other Languages • Andrew Woods Williamson

... stood cursing on the top of the dike. Which arrow flew so stout and strong, that though it sprang back from Earl Warrenne's hauberk, it knocked him almost senseless off his horse, and forced him to defer his purpose of ...
— Hereward, The Last of the English • Charles Kingsley

... had left the room I couldn't help muttering a "Thank God!" for the success of a mission I more than once feared for, and hastened to despatch a note to my uncle, assuring him of the Blake interest, and adding that for propriety's sake I should defer my departure for a day ...
— Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon, Volume 1 (of 2) • Charles Lever

... most exquisite courtesy, "it would be only a natural anxiety which would urge us to inquire the reasons and the end of this dominion. But behold to what extent your revelation interests me; I defer this question of private interest. Of late, in two caverns, it has been my fortune to discover Tifinar inscriptions of this name, Antinea. My comrade is witness that I took it for a Greek name. I understand ...
— Atlantida • Pierre Benoit

... accompanied by Mr. Brock, and announced, with perfect composure, that the ladies had been good enough to take his own arrangements off his hands, and that, in deference to their convenience, he meant to defer establishing himself at Thorpe Ambrose till that day two months. The lawyers stared at Allan, and Allan, returning the compliment, stared at ...
— Armadale • Wilkie Collins

... Blessing now must be defer'd. [Leads her to the Door. My Wrongs and I will be retir'd to Night, And bring forth Vengeance with the ...
— The Works of Aphra Behn, Vol. II • Aphra Behn

... language can paint the scene which followed; it is sufficient to say that the whole party agreed to quit the cell at the return of night. But this being a night on which it was known the marquis would visit the prison, they agreed to defer their departure till after his appearance, and thus elude the danger to be expected from an early discovery of ...
— A Sicilian Romance • Ann Radcliffe

... the photographer: I fancied that such a novelty would have attracted his attention for the moment. But no: his first question was, Aysh 'Ujrat?—"What is the hire for my camels?" Finally, these men threw so many difficulties in our way, that I was compelled to defer our exploration of the eastern region ...
— The Land of Midian, Vol. 1 • Richard Burton

... long, hot and fatiguing trip and her cool, spacious home was so restful that she decided to defer her visit to Chautauqua until later in the season.[75] On August 8, Miss Shaw, Mrs. Foster Avery and Miss Anthony, who had been having a little visit together, started from Rochester for Chautauqua, where the Reverend Anna was to debate the question ...
— The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 2 of 2) • Ida Husted Harper

... many things: laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him." As our Lord's recorded utterances on this occasion appear also in His final denunciation of Pharisaism, later delivered at the temple, we may well defer further consideration of the matter until we take up ...
— Jesus the Christ - A Study of the Messiah and His Mission According to Holy - Scriptures Both Ancient and Modern • James Edward Talmage

... all more or less debased, dangerous, soiled and depraved by their work; the distrust is irremediable. They can still turn out manifests, decrees and cabals, and get up revolutions, but they can no longer agree amongst themselves and heartily defer to the justified ascendancy and recognized authority of any one or among their own body.—After ten years of mutual assault there is not one among the three thousand legislators who have sat in the sovereign assemblies that can count ...
— The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 4 (of 6) - The French Revolution, Volume 3 (of 3) • Hippolyte A. Taine

... ordeno. decree : dekreto, mandate. decrepit : kaduka. dedicate : dedicxi. deed : ago, faro, farajxo, faritajxo; dokumento. deep : profunda; (sound) basa. deer : cervo. defeat : venki, malvenko. defend : defendi. defer : prokrasti. deficiency : deficito, malsuficxeco. defile : intermonto; malpurigi. define : difini. definite : definitiva. degenerate : degeneri. degree : grado. Deity : Diajxo, Dieco. delay : prokrasti. delegate : deleg'i, -ito. delicate : delikata. delightful ...
— The Esperanto Teacher - A Simple Course for Non-Grammarians • Helen Fryer

... pieces were forthcoming. After they came on shore, the general sent to the king and protector, desiring to have the pieces back; but the masters of these slaves said they had no pieces except what they had bought with their money; yet they requested our general to defer executing the slaves for two days, which he agreed to. But as these nobles were not reckoned great good-wishers to the king, the protector sent the executioner with a guard of pikes to put them to death. When they came to the place of execution, our general wished to spare their lives; but ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. VIII. • Robert Kerr

... continued to agitate him while reflecting that he was receiving these obligations from his implacable enemy so occupied and disturbed him, that he spent a sleepless night. The dawn found his fever much augmented; but no corporeal sufferings could persuade him to defer seeing the baronet and immediately leaving his house. Believing, as he did, that all this kindness would have been withheld had his host known on whom he was pouring such benefits, he thought that every minute which passed over him while under ...
— Thaddeus of Warsaw • Jane Porter

... into the boat quick!" ordered the man in a voice of curt authority. The woman whipped round and stared at him in amazement. She was accustomed to having people defer to her; and Jim Simmons, in particular, she had always considered ...
— Children of the Wild • Charles G. D. Roberts

... and admonition that I vow and declare he reminded me of Issachar stooping between his two burdens. It was high time for him to be done with your apron-string, my dear: he has all his wild oats to sow; and that is an occupation which it is unwise to defer too long. By the bye, have you heard the news? The Duke of York has done us a service for which I was unprepared. (More tea, Barbara!) George Austin, bringing the prince in his train, is with us ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XV • Robert Louis Stevenson

... thought high, but consider a person leaving a certain and permanent service and his native country, to go he hardly knows where, and it must be supposed he will ask at least as good terms as he could have in his own country, but as the terms have not been particularly considered, I must defer any thing further on this subject for the present, hourly in hopes of some explicit intelligence from the honorable Congress. You have the good wishes of every one here. Chevalier de Chastellier desires me this instant to write down his compliments ...
— The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. I • Various

... made that great mariner a little less real than he used to be. Joe believed in him with all his heart, had never had the shadow of a doubt about him, and meant to sail straight from Liverpool to Lilliput. He would defer his voyage to Brobdingnagia until he had grown bigger, and should be something of a match for ...
— Julia And Her Romeo: A Chronicle Of Castle Barfield - From "Schwartz" by David Christie Murray • David Christie Murray

... repress the boldness and insolence of the soldiers, which would erelong become altogether ungovernable and violent, were they now permitted to deprive Aemilius of his triumph. Forcing a passage through the crowd, they came up in great numbers, and desired the tribunes to defer polling, till they had spoken what they had to say to the people. All things thus suspended, and silence being made, Marcus Servilius stood up, a man of consular dignity, and who had killed twenty-three of his enemies that had challenged ...
— Plutarch's Lives • A.H. Clough

... illustrious realm."[1240] The Duke of Anjou was urged to incite his brother to punish the rebels with great severity, and to be inexorable in refusing the prayers of all who would intercede for them.[1241] Charles was given to understand that if, induced by any motives, he should defer the punishment of God's enemies, he would certainly tempt the Divine patience ...
— History of the Rise of the Huguenots - Volume 2 • Henry Baird

... that I much desired to speak of,' and here he hesitated and faltered; 'but perhaps, on every score, it is as well I should defer it ...
— Lord Kilgobbin • Charles Lever

... windward coast as herdsmen and husbandmen, paying a tribute to the sovereign of the country for the lands which they hold. Not having many opportunities, however, during my residence at Pisania, of improving my acquaintance with these people, I defer entering at large into their character until a fitter occasion occurs, which will present itself when I ...
— Travels in the Interior of Africa - Volume 1 • Mungo Park

... dollar-business they may be paying your interest out of your principal, and you none the wiser until the crash. But here the difference ceases. For if little or no vital interest comes in, your generous scale of living is pinched. You may defer the catastrophe a little by borrowing short-time loans at a ruinous rate from usurious stimulants, giving many pounds of flesh as security. But soon Shylock forecloses and you are forced to move with your sufferings to the slums and ten-cent lodging-houses ...
— The Joyful Heart • Robert Haven Schauffler

... would carry out your programme exactly as you had sketched it, but I thought that the disturbed state of things over here might have induced you to defer that part of the plan until a more appropriate season. Surely Paris is not just at present a pleasant abode for a young lady, and is likely to be a much ...
— A Girl of the Commune • George Alfred Henty

... hope you will forgive me for the delay in answering your most important letter, involving as it does tragic dooms of separation which I hope need not be fulfilled. . . . I should like to ask you to defer your decision at least until you have seen the next week's number of the paper, in which I expand further the argument I have used in the current number and bring it, I think, rather nearer to your natural and justifiable point of view. Between ourselves, and without prejudice to anybody, ...
— Gilbert Keith Chesterton • Maisie Ward

... could, if need be, spare the year or two of continuous residence needed to rescue Clarendon from the grasp of Fetters. The climate agreed with Phil, who was growing like a weed; and the colonel could easily defer for a little while his scheme of travel, and the further disposition of ...
— The Colonel's Dream • Charles W. Chesnutt

... Well, children, defer that discussion until the Fourth of July. Is there time for a ...
— The Sweet Girl Graduates • Rea Woodman

... was made for the people—not the people for the Government. To them it owes allegiance; from them it must derive its courage, strength, and wisdom. But while the Government is thus bound to defer to the people, from whom it derives its existence, it should, from the very consideration of its origin, be strong in its power of resistance to the establishment of inequalities. Monopolies, perpetuities, and class legislation are contrary to the genius of free government, ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 2) of Volume 6: Andrew Johnson • James D. Richardson

... much to meet Elizabeth, on her advent into her American life, but the time had been most uncertain, and so many other duties held the wife and mother and mistress, that it had been thought better to defer the pleasure till it could be more definitely arranged. And then, after all, it was Elizabeth that went to ...
— The Hallam Succession • Amelia Edith Barr

... expected that I should remain long there, as such a situation never appeared to him quite suitable to me, though I had been very diligent, and had given him perfect satisfaction. On his inquiring when I intended to depart, I informed him next day, whereupon he begged that I would defer my departure till the next day but one, and do him the favour of dining with him on the morrow. I informed him that I should be ...
— The Romany Rye • George Borrow

... reaction to praise and blame, etc., will depend upon the irritability of ego feeling, the love of superiority and the dislike for inferiority. This basic situation we must defer discussing, but what is of importance is that the primitive disciplinary weapons we have discussed never lose their cardinal value and remain throughout life and in all societies the prime modes of ...
— The Foundations of Personality • Abraham Myerson

... Mr. Gladstone wrote at length conveying his general approval of my plan, and stating that he did not intend to "handle" the Bill in the House of Commons; and so wished to defer to the opinions of his colleagues. He gave me leave to add 12 members to the House for Scotland, instead of taking the 12 from England; and he congratulated me upon the "wonderful progress" which I had made.... On the same day on which I had received Mr. Gladstone's ...
— The Life of the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles W. Dilke, Vol. 2 • Stephen Gwynn

... began to fail. In a short time he was delirious. "Fool, fool!" he would exclaim, at intervals, and this was all he said. In this state of mind, death overtook him, four months before the period arrived, to which he had put off attention to the concerns of his soul—a sad warning to those who defer this first ...
— Anecdotes for Boys • Harvey Newcomb

... shall we say about men? What the poets and story-tellers say—that the wicked prosper and the righteous are afflicted, or that justice is another's gain? Such misrepresentations cannot be allowed by us. But in this we are anticipating the definition of justice, and had therefore better defer the enquiry. ...
— The Republic • Plato

... departure from prison, I should have lost no time in proceeding to the House of Commons; but, conjecturing that the spirit of disturbance might derive some encouragement from my unexpected appearance at that time, and having no inclination to promote tumult, I resolved to defer my appearance at the House, and, if possible, to conceal my departure from the prison, until the order of the metropolis ...
— The Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, Tenth Earl of Dundonald, G.C.B., Admiral of the Red, Rear-Admiral of the Fleet, Etc., Etc. • Thomas Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald

... work, 30 All the powers of Hell that lurk Favour me exceedingly, As deeds impossible shall attest Of awful shape, Miracles most manifest 35 Such that all shall see and gape, Visibly and invisibly. For I'll make a lady coy, Though love's guerdon she defer, If her lover look on her, 40 The very breath of life enjoy; And two lovers, love's curse under Kept asunder, Will I leave to grieve apart, And achieve by this my art 45 Things at which you'll gaze in wonder. For a lady most ungainly For a halfpenny at night Will ...
— Four Plays of Gil Vicente • Gil Vicente

... 'Defer your delight a little, madam; there's plenty of time!' Pigasov began with annoyance. 'It's not sufficient to say a witty word, with a show of superiority; you must prove, refute. We had wandered from the subject of ...
— Rudin • Ivan Turgenev

... states at Brussels, he rose feebly from his seat, and declared his abdication of the sovereign power; and it was said that one of Charles's last advices to his son Philip was to cultivate the goodwill of the people of the Netherlands, and especially to defer to the counsels of the Prince of Orange. When, therefore, in the year 1555, Philip began his rule in the Netherlands, there were few persons who were either better entitled or more truly disposed to act the part of faithful and loyal advisers than William of Nassau, then twenty-two years ...
— Ten Great Events in History • James Johonnot

... have immediate recourse to my pen and ink; but before I would offer to make use of them, I resolved deliberately to tell over a hundred, and when I came to the end of that sum, I found it more advisable to defer drawing up my intended remonstrance, till I had slept soundly on my resentments. Without any other preface than this, I shall give the world a fair account of the treatment I have lately met with, and leave them to judge, whether the uneasiness I have suffered be inconsistent with the character ...
— The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D. D., Volume IX; • Jonathan Swift

... a coffee; the landlord, who also had had his dinner, asked me to be good enough to defer it for another year and I assented. I then asked him which was the best inn at Segni. He replied that it did not matter, that when a man had quattrini one albergo was as good as another. I said, No; ...
— The Note-Books of Samuel Butler • Samuel Butler

... wish you'd defer these domestic reproofs to some more suitable time. Really, my dear, these constant interruptions ...
— Sketches by Boz - illustrative of everyday life and every-day people • Charles Dickens

... life, would, if water was needed in the fort, send his wife and daughter to draw it from the spring round which he knew Indians lurked, trusting that the appearance of the women would make the savages think themselves undiscovered, and that they would therefore defer their attack. [Footnote: As at the siege of Bryan's Station.] Such people were not likely to spare their red-skinned foes. Many of their friends, who had never hurt the savages in any way, had perished the victims of wanton aggression. They themselves had seen innumerable ...
— The Winning of the West, Volume Two - From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, 1777-1783 • Theodore Roosevelt

... it please your Honor," said the defendant's attorney. "The prosecutor should defer his argument until the ...
— The Wife of his Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line, and - Selected Essays • Charles Waddell Chesnutt

... thou comest when I had thee least in mind! In thy power it lieth me to save; Yet of my good will I give thee, if ye will be kind, Yea, a thousand pound shalt thou have, And defer ...
— Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse • Various

... answer arrived by return of post. Other engagements obliged him to defer receiving us for a month. At the end of that time, we were cordially invited to visit him, and to stay as ...
— Little Novels • Wilkie Collins

... had better defer your congratulations until you see what sort of persons these young men are. Mrs. Grant assured me yesterday that one of these gentlemen is very ...
— Mark Hurdlestone - Or, The Two Brothers • Susanna Moodie

... the point closing the last chapter, when the sharp ringing of the Abbess' little bell announced the end of the recreation-time; and convent laws being quite as rigid as those of the Medes and Persians, Philippa was obliged to defer the further gratification of her curiosity. When the next recreation-time came, the blind nun ...
— The Well in the Desert - An Old Legend of the House of Arundel • Emily Sarah Holt

... to her lips; and, while I wiped the damp drops of agony from her brow, I besought her to defer the sequel of her story until she was more capable of ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 350, December 1844 • Various

... of the case it was less easy to fix Bessy's attention; but Amherst was far from being one of the extreme theorists who reject temporary remedies lest they defer the day of general renewal, and since he looked on every gain in the material condition of the mill-hands as a step in their moral growth, he was quite willing to hold back his fundamental plans while he discussed the establishment ...
— The Fruit of the Tree • Edith Wharton

... sir," I answered. "He regards the crisis as universal and inevitable. We have some oxygen here, but it can only defer our fate for a ...
— The Poison Belt • Arthur Conan Doyle

... special pleaders, questions on which he has been concentrating the patient study and directing the laborious explorations of years. And an exhibition by specimen of the nonsense to which they have in this way committed themselves in their haste, may not be wholly uninstructive. But I must defer the display till another evening. I shall do them no injustice; but I trust it will be forgiven me should I exhibit, as they have exhibited themselves, a class of writers to whose assaults I have submitted for the last fourteen years ...
— The Testimony of the Rocks - or, Geology in Its Bearings on the Two Theologies, Natural and Revealed • Hugh Miller

... had better defer discussing that part of the work until we can all sit down quietly and talk it ...
— The Blue Birds' Winter Nest • Lillian Elizabeth Roy

... indeed, something of importance to them, but John informed them that for certain reasons it might be better to defer the explanation until they had made ...
— The Wonder Island Boys: Adventures on Strange Islands • Roger Thompson Finlay

... the elder of the two by three years and formerly had been accustomed to take the lead between them, since the younger had become the support of the family she was beginning, quite unconsciously, to lean upon and defer to her sister. During the drive Henrietta and her mother exchanged many pleased glances as they listened to the merry chatter and the frequent laughter that drifted back from the front seat. It was a smiling Felix Brand, suave, ...
— The Fate of Felix Brand • Florence Finch Kelly

... moves or speaks, it is not unlikely that they may carry the place by storm; but if a panick should seize them, it will be proper to defer the enterprise to a more hungry hour. When they have entered, let them fill their bellies and ...
— The Works of Samuel Johnson in Nine Volumes - Volume IV: The Adventurer; The Idler • Samuel Johnson

... to go North, but if a word of suspicion was heard, I told her she must defer going to a future time; that she must go as her brother went, perfectly independent of any one, which she was confident of doing; but she wished to go on the same boat with me, if no one else was going from their city. I learned through ...
— A Woman's Life-Work - Labors and Experiences • Laura S. Haviland

... anxious for the unpleasant task of writing to a parent to request her to remove her daughter. Mrs. Morrison had nerved herself to the unwelcome duty, but she was quite willing to defer it until Miss Duckworth had instituted enquiries. She had an excellent opinion of her ...
— A Patriotic Schoolgirl • Angela Brazil

... resolutely, though he felt the same temptation. It was in one sense curious that the older man should defer to him. ...
— The Gold Trail • Harold Bindloss

... though he was—ruled the office with a firm hand. There was no familiarity of manner there; the clerks liked him, but they had to defer to him and obey him. He was seated at his desk, deep in some accounts, on this same morning—the one mentioned in the last chapter—when one of the clerks entered, and said that Mr. Arthur Channing was asking to speak to him: for it was Mr. Hamish Channing's good pleasure not to be interrupted ...
— The Channings • Mrs. Henry Wood

... the verge.' Mr. Mason said to him, 'Is there nothing we can do for you? Had we not better call the physician? Or shall we try to remove you into town immediately?' After a few moments' deliberation, it was concluded to defer the baptism of the male applicants, and set out for home early the next morning. Nearly all the female candidates had been examined, and as it is difficult for them to come to town, it was thought best that Mr. Mason should baptize them in the evening. We knelt, and ...
— Lives of the Three Mrs. Judsons • Arabella W. Stuart

... world but once. If there be any kindness we can show, or any good thing we can do to any fellow-being, let us do it now. Let us not defer nor neglect it, for we shall not pass ...
— From a Girl's Point of View • Lilian Bell

... a little German settlement on its banks, we stopped and had an excellent dinner, but it was so late before we left St. Louis, that we passed the greater part of what seemed very pretty scenery in the dark, so that I shall defer any further description of it till we return over the ...
— First Impressions of the New World - On Two Travellers from the Old in the Autumn of 1858 • Isabella Strange Trotter

... globe-trotting up Yasin way when these ruffians rushed his camp, seized him, and carried him into a wood with the intention of killing him. He asked them to defer the performance until daylight, as he should like to look on the world once more. This they agreed to, and soon after dawn made him kneel down and hacked off his head. Such is the story. Poor Hayward's body was brought into Gilgit, and he lies ...
— With Kelly to Chitral • William George Laurence Beynon

... kept the room warm; and in still another case the bath-room was over the sitting room, and a large pipe carried the heat from the stove below into the room above. The stovepipe also went through the bath-room and helped to provide warmth. It is better, all things considered, to defer the installation of a bath-room until a furnace can be provided, since then there is no danger of frozen water-pipes at intermediate points where the cold reaches the pipes. A full list of fixtures and ...
— Rural Hygiene • Henry N. Ogden

... sayeth that it is at least three years since [i.e., in 1597] he, this deponent, first heard the plaintiff labor and entreat the defendant for a new lease."[82] Cuthbert tells us that Alleyn did not positively refuse to renew the lease, "but for some causes, which he feigned, did defer the same from time to time, but yet gave hope to your subject, and affirmed that he would ...
— Shakespearean Playhouses - A History of English Theatres from the Beginnings to the Restoration • Joseph Quincy Adams

... talked that England will defer coming to terms of peace because she hopes to conquer us by this same ...
— Peggy Owen and Liberty • Lucy Foster Madison

... troubling you with this matter; but I do not wish to defer it until our return, lest I lose sight of the boy. The dismal attic where Christie and his old master lived was the last place my dear wife visited before her illness; and I feel that the charge of ...
— Christie's Old Organ - Or, "Home, Sweet Home" • Mrs. O. F. Walton

... black and white—why there it is, and you can't get away from it! If it wasn't right, a paper like that would never have printed it. However, as it was now nearly half past eight, he resolved to defer this triumph till another occasion. It was too good a thing to be ...
— The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists • Robert Tressell

... that there is a question of the young lady's marriage," pursued McLean, "and you would, of course, wish to defer this until these new ...
— The Fortieth Door • Mary Hastings Bradley

... that too often; but have not the old reasons lost their force? Even here we could make a home. Let us defer our marriage no longer." ...
— The False Chevalier - or, The Lifeguard of Marie Antoinette • William Douw Lighthall

... Forster, or the survivor of them or the executors or administrators of such survivor, do and shall, at their, his, or her uncontrolled and irresponsible direction, either proceed to an immediate sale or conversion into money of the said real and personal estate (including my copyrights), or defer and postpone any sale or conversion into money, till such time or times as they, he, or she shall think fit, and in the meantime may manage and let the said real and personal estate (including my ...
— The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. I-III, Complete • John Forster

... deepened in solemn utterance, vibrated huskily. There was a rustic dignity in his uncouth form, in his broad face, in the gesture of the raised hand. "You shall promise to respect the dictates of our conscience, guided by the authority of our faith; to defer to our scruples, and to the procedure of our Church in matters which we believe touch the welfare ...
— Romance • Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer

... no private means and she was rich, she knew her money would not count for much against the prospects of a brilliant career. The man had real ability and meant to make his mark, and in this she was anxious to assist him. She was even willing to defer their marriage until he had had an opportunity of displaying his talents in the administration of the West African territory he had lately returned to, and her object was to secure his appointment to the post left vacant by the ...
— Blake's Burden • Harold Bindloss

... the newly married couple because the average person cannot tell the difference between a well-built house and one which is poorly constructed. Unless there is some understanding of this matter, it probably will be wiser to defer the purchase of a house and live in rented quarters until one acquires such knowledge. It must be remembered, also, that the upkeep of a dwelling is likely to come to a substantial figure and that the budget may be severely strained if one does not know ...
— The Good Housekeeping Marriage Book • Various

... this hope relieves thee, and these words I as a Prophecy receive: for God, Nothing more certain, will not long defer To vindicate the glory of his name Against all competition, nor will long Endure it, doubtful whether God be Lord, Or Dagon. But for thee what shall be done? Thou must not in the mean while here forgot Lie in this miserable loathsom plight 480 Neglected. I already have made way To some Philistian ...
— The Poetical Works of John Milton • John Milton

... respected. The power of the chief was, however, not everywhere the same. Among the Zulus, whose organization was entirely military, he was a despot whose word was law. Among the Bechuana tribes, and their kinsfolk the Basutos, he was obliged to defer to the sentiment of the people, which (in some tribes) found expression in a public meeting where every freeman had a right to speak and might differ from the chief.[9] Even such able men as the Basuto Moshesh ...
— Impressions of South Africa • James Bryce

... priced work with a miller, and he had great trouble to replace him, so that the garden became disagreeably unkempt and unsatisfactory. He had to give up his frequent trips to London. He was obliged to defer Statesminster for the boys. For a time at any rate they must go as day boys to Brinsmead. At every point he met this uncongenial consideration of ways and means. For years now he had gone easy, lived with a certain self-indulgence. It was extraordinarily ...
— Mr. Britling Sees It Through • H. G. Wells

... which denied the right of challenge, and accepted the concurrence of five voices only in cases of life and death—and those of persons subject to the influence of the governor and unaccustomed to weigh evidence, or to defer to the maxims of civil tribunals. But if the constitution of the court was a subject of just complaint, the creation of new offences by unauthorised legislation, was still less acceptable ...
— The History of Tasmania, Volume I (of 2) • John West

... defer their answers until they can catch those of their comrades for a guide. Let the teacher mention this fault, expose the motive which leads to it, and tell them that if they do not answer independently and at once, they had better not answer ...
— The Teacher • Jacob Abbott

... order of the latter. The system conduced to a lack of sympathy of motive, which caused a disinclination on the one part to ask for what on the other there would be more than a disinclination to give. This tended to crystallise the national proneness to defer until the emergency arose the measures necessary to meet it. It followed, then, that while attention was given to the needs of the moment, practically all provision for the requirements of the future was relegated to the background. A further defect in the system ...
— History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1 (of 4) - Compiled by Direction of His Majesty's Government • Frederick Maurice

... Lionel. He did not see what precise part of it he had to redeem, but he was earnestly anxious to defer to the words of a dying man. "Uncle, may I dare to say that I hope you will ...
— Verner's Pride • Mrs. Henry Wood



Words linked to "Defer" :   submit, buckle under, shelve, scratch, deferment, call off, remit, give in, accede, succumb, delay, deferral, scrub, suspend, put over, hold, knuckle under, respite, yield, hold over, probate, reprieve, deferent, put off, bow



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