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Defer   Listen
verb
Defer  v. t.  
1.
To render or offer. (Obs.) "Worship deferred to the Virgin."
2.
To lay before; to submit in a respectful manner; to refer; with to. "Hereupon the commissioners... deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Defer" Quotes from Famous Books



... her again alive,' answered Wilderspin mournfully; 'but you are so pale, Mr. Aylwin, and your eyes are so wild, I had better defer telling you what little more there is to tell until you have quite recovered ...
— Aylwin • Theodore Watts-Dunton

... estate of their souls hereafter—and to command the anathemas of God upon any who dared to question its authority. It held itself divinely ordained to give crowns and to take them away. Kings and potentates were its vassals, and nations had to defer to it and serve it, on pain of interdicts which smote whole realms with gloom and desolation, prostrated all the industries of life, locked up the very graveyards against decent sepulture, and consigned ...
— Luther and the Reformation: - The Life-Springs of Our Liberties • Joseph A. Seiss

... watch the enemy's fleet, and ordered them to return to the Straits mouth, to give me information, that I might know how to direct my proceedings: for I cannot very properly run to the West Indies, without something beyond mere surmise; and if I defer my departure, Jamaica may be lost. Indeed, as they have a month's start of me, I see no prospect of getting out time enough to prevent much mischief from being done. However, I shall take all matters into my most serious ...
— The Life of Nelson, Vol. II. (of 2) - The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain • A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan

... the great pains Sulla took to rebuild the walls of Praeneste, to lay out a new forum, and especially to make such an extensive enlargement and so many repairs of the temple of Fortuna Primigenia, show that his efforts were not entirely to please his new colonists, but just as much to try to defer to the wishes and civic pride of the old settlers. Third, the fact that a great many of the old inhabitants were left, despite the great slaughter at the capture of the city, is shown by the frequent recurrence in later inscriptions of the ancient ...
— A Study Of The Topography And Municipal History Of Praeneste • Ralph Van Deman Magoffin

... taken away; She began thus to her Lovers: My Lord! Sir Thomas! and Mr. Fat-acres! I doubt not, that it will be of some Satisfaction to you, to know whom I have made Choice for my next Husband; which now I am resolv'd no longer to defer. ...
— The Works of Aphra Behn - Volume V • Aphra Behn

... high passions of poetry; and, above all, youth is rich in the possession of time, and the accompanying consciousness of freedom and power. The young man feels that he stands at a distance from the season when his harvest is to be reaped; that he has leisure and may look around, and may defer both the choice and the execution of his purposes. If he makes an attempt and shall fail, new hopes immediately rush in and new promises. Hence, in the happy confidence of his feelings, and in the elasticity of his spirit, neither worldly ambition, nor the love of praise, nor dread of ...
— The Prose Works of William Wordsworth • William Wordsworth

... home and, if so, when. This does not always lie within the power of the case worker to decide; the couple may and often do resolve their differences for the time being without reference to her opinion. But she can often hasten, defer, or even prevent the reconciliation. Careful consideration must be given the elements involved: What causes probably operated to bring about the rupture in family relations? If there have been other desertions what does their history show? Is the man's willingness ...
— Broken Homes - A Study of Family Desertion and its Social Treatment • Joanna C. Colcord

... seeking a path. Dan, who was nearest him as be passed, leaped and threw both arms around the man, bringing him to the ground. Dave leaped to aid Dalzell, nor was Hazelton long in getting to the spot. Tom Reade decided to defer the punishment of Martin, and went to the aid of his ...
— The Grammar School Boys in Summer Athletics • H. Irving Hancock

... extremes of political thought. In one case, nationality is founded on the perpetual supremacy of the collective will, of which the unity of the nation is the necessary condition, to which every other influence must defer, and against which no obligation enjoys authority, and all resistance is tyrannical. The nation is here an ideal unit founded on the race, in defiance of the modifying action of external causes, of tradition, and of existing rights. It overrules the rights and wishes ...
— The History of Freedom • John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton

... are in great expectation of some important victory obtained by the squadron under Sir John Norris. we are told the Duke is to be of the expedition; is it true? (210) All the letters, too, talk of France suddenly declaring war; I hope they will defer it for a season, or one shall be obliged to return ...
— The Letters of Horace Walpole, Volume 1 • Horace Walpole

... 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 ...
— Adam Bede • George Eliot

... leaving that evening was a slow one, which did not reach Francheuil till midnight, and she knew that her taking it would excite Madame de Chantelle's wonder and lead to interminable talk. She had come up to Paris on the pretext of finding a new governess for Effie, and the natural thing was to defer her return till the next morning. She knew Owen well enough to be sure that he would make another attempt to see Miss Viner, and failing that, would write again and await her answer: so that there was no likelihood of his reaching Givre ...
— The Reef • Edith Wharton

... and has a magnificent capacity for indignation. He will roar you like a lion, his eyes will flash, and his clenched fist will shake as he denounces that which he believes to be error. And yet among inferiors he will consult, defer, inquire, and show a humility, a forced suavity, that has given ...
— Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Vol. 1 of 14 - Little Journeys to the Homes of Good Men and Great • Elbert Hubbard

... consult my 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 on ...
— From Boyhood to Manhood • William M. Thayer

... 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 ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 350, December 1844 • Various

... the Dorcas Society, of New York, to draw for $20 to purchase a cow for the use of the mission family at the Credit, and you are at liberty to get one now, or defer it till the Spring. As probably the $20 will purchase a cow, and pay for ...
— The Story of My Life - Being Reminiscences of Sixty Years' Public Service in Canada • Egerton Ryerson

... expression. It would seem that these facts could scarcely be accidental but that they must have a deeper significance. As a discussion of this belongs, however, more into the psychological part of this study, we shall defer it for the present, and be satisfied with pointing out here the ...
— Benign Stupors - A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction Type • August Hoch

... 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 ...
— The 2004 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency

... to the Teacher.—Consider at this time only such familiar features as belong to the children's immediate environment in or very near their neighborhood. Defer the study of the other land and water forms until later, as suggested in the Introduction. For further details of these features, see Chapters I and IV ...
— Where We Live - A Home Geography • Emilie Van Beil Jacobs

... thick and heavy on the King, some of his powerful nobles being in open rebellion, that he felt it necessary to dissemble and defer the gratification of his vengeance on the man he hated more than any personage in England. He pretended to restore Anselm to favor. "Bygones should be bygones." The King and the Archbishop sat at dinner at Windsor with friends ...
— Beacon Lights of History, Volume V • John Lord

... prime minister one of unusual difficulty, a fact which was recognized by contemporaries. Charles Greville in his Memoirs says, "In the present cabinet are five or six first-rate men of equal, or nearly equal, pretensions, none of them likely to acknowledge the superiority or defer to the opinions of any other, and every one of these five or six considering himself abler and more important than their premier''; and Sir James Graham wrote, "It is a powerful team, but it will ...
— Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia

... Romish Christianity, May fires still continued to be lighted on Bealtine day, the more impressive ceremonies took place on the 23d of June, on the eve of the nativity of St. John. The early preachers, wishing to defer to the prejudices and usages of the people, "yet not so as to interfere with the celebration of Easter at the vernal equinox, retained the Bealtine ceremonial, only transferring it to the saint's day." Of these fire festivals ...
— The God-Idea of the Ancients - or Sex in Religion • Eliza Burt Gamble

... of making some business-like measurements of the opening about the range, and to see where a boiler could best be placed. A glance within was sufficient. Martha was busy about the very spot; and Vane turned back, making up his mind to defer his visit till midnight, when the place would be solitary, and ...
— The Weathercock - Being the Adventures of a Boy with a Bias • George Manville Fenn

... Meal," as le Bourdon laughingly called his cabin, until the return of day. If there were any bears scenting around the place, as often occurred at night, their instinct must have apprised them that a large reinforcement was present, and caused them to defer their attack to a more favorable opportunity. The first afoot next morning was the bee-hunter himself, who arose and left his cabin just as the earliest streaks of day were appearing in the east. Although dwelling in a wilderness, ...
— Oak Openings • James Fenimore Cooper

... thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few. 3. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. 4. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for He hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; ...
— Expositions Of Holy Scripture - Volume I: St. Luke, Chaps. I to XII • Alexander Maclaren

... kept tight hold of it even after he was knocked down, and it was the first thing he called for when he regained consciousness. I thought he had better defer seeing you until to-morrow morning; but he wouldn't hear to it. So I let him have his ...
— Polly of Lady Gay Cottage • Emma C. Dowd

... discovery, was undecided whether to follow Cooper's Creek up to the eastward or persevere in his original intention of pushing to the north. A thunder-storm falling at the time made him adhere to his original determination, and defer the examination of the ...
— The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work • Ernest Favenc

... treble life to me. This flings a bond about me, which shall tie me For ever to his service: and I scarcely Like to defer inquiring for his wishes. For everything I am ready; and am ready To own that 'tis on your account I ...
— Nathan the Wise • Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

... matter how wild, a sudden faintness, anything, and run from him back into the cottage. And then she tried to think, think in a desperate sort of way of some subject of conversation that she might introduce that would stave off, postpone, defer the words that she knew were even now on his lips—nothing—she could think of nothing—only that she might have let the Flopper have his way, have let him tell Thornton that she had gone to bed with—the pip. The pip! She could have screamed out hysterically as the ...
— The Miracle Man • Frank L. Packard

... the chairman of the committee on road-side planting, is in California, and unable to be with us at this session. If a report is to come from that committee it must necessarily come from some other member, so we will defer action on that particular ...
— Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Sixth Annual Meeting. Rochester, New York, September 1 and 2, 1915 • Various

... prevented him from coming, and I thought of writing to him the next day, but afterward put it off. Lucy came again into my study, where she was sure to find me in the morning. "My dear," said she, "do you recollect that you desired me to defer inoculating our little boy till you could decide whether it be best to inoculate him in the ...
— Tales & Novels, Vol. 2 • Maria Edgeworth

... England has driven us to arms; and blinded to her own interest, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours. Why then should we defer the declaration? Is any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or security to his own life and his own honor! Are ...
— McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader • William Holmes McGuffey

... which desire incites one to fight and to die,—can this be, I say, and will ye choose some other way now, when it is possible for you easily to have the rule over all Asia?" Aristagoras spoke thus, and Cleomenes answered him saying: "Guest-friend from Miletos, I defer my answer to thee until the day after ...
— The History Of Herodotus - Volume 2 (of 2) • Herodotus

... the Rank or Degree of Persons in the Hierarchy of Personality; the Ego ranking naturally as 'Number One.' Deference or Grace teaches us afterward to defer to the personality of others, and converts our primitive notions of rank into opposites, in a way which is indicated by the honorific use of Thou ...
— Continental Monthly , Vol. 5, No. 6, June, 1864 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... did defer, that is he seldom opposed. But, when each conference was over, he went his own sweet way, using his own judgment and doing what seemed to him best. With Elizabeth, however, he was quite different. When she offered advice—which was seldom—he listened and almost invariably acted upon it. He was ...
— Fair Harbor • Joseph Crosby Lincoln

... York in great contempt; a feeling he was not always disposed to conceal, and of necessity his comparisons were usually made with the state of things in Connecticut, and much to the advantage of the latter. To one thing, however, he was much disposed to defer, and that was money. Connecticut had not then, nor has it now, a single individual who would be termed rich in New York; and Jason, spite of his provincial conceit, spite of his overweening notions of moral and intellectual ...
— Satanstoe • James Fenimore Cooper

... dinner-table was a thing beyond him. Somewhat later he heard the two young men come upstairs, and, still further along, go down again. They were social souls, his two fellow lodgers; kindly young fellows with boyish faces and honest eyes: Griswold wondered if they would still look up to him and defer to him as the older man of broader culture if ...
— The Price • Francis Lynde

... our ends. The injustice of England has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own interest for our good, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours. Why, then, should we defer the declaration? Is any man so weak as now to hope for reconciliation with England, which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or safety to his own life and his own honor? Are not you, sir, ...
— Thomas Jefferson • Edward S. Ellis et. al.

... Bakwains of their guns. Knowing that the latter would rather have fled to the Kalahari Desert than deliver up their weapons and become slaves, I proceeded to the commandant, Mr. Gert Krieger, and, representing the evils of any such expedition, prevailed upon him to defer it; but that point being granted, the Boer wished to gain another, which was that I should act as a ...
— Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa - Journeys and Researches in South Africa • David Livingstone

... preparations towards the marriage had been going forward for some time—chiefly in the application of Tito's florins to the fitting up of rooms in Bardo's dwelling, which, the library excepted, had always been scantily furnished—it had been intended to defer both the betrothal and the marriage until after Easter, when Tito's year of probation, insisted on by Bernardo del Nero, would have been complete. But when an express proposition had come, that Tito should follow the Cardinal Giovanni to Rome to help ...
— Romola • George Eliot

... all things, with nothing left but their clothes, and bewailing their misfortune. Camillus himself was struck with compassion, and perceiving the soldiers weeping, and commiserating their case, while the Sutrians hung about and clung to them, resolved not to defer revenge, but that very day to lead his army to Sutrium; conjecturing that the enemy, having just taken a rich and plentiful city, without an enemy left within it, nor any from without to be expected, would be found abandoned to enjoyment, and unguarded. ...
— The Boys' and Girls' Plutarch - Being Parts of The "Lives" of Plutarch • Plutarch

... the decree of the Lateran Council by saying "Sacramental Confession was never required in the Church of Rome until the thirteenth century." The Council simply prescribed a limit beyond which the faithful should not defer their confession. ...
— The Faith of Our Fathers • James Cardinal Gibbons

... nearly a thousand years, and yet the world continued to degenerate more and more, they announced God's decision to an ungrateful world and disclosed this as his thought: Why should I preach forever and permit my heralds to cry in vain? The more messengers I send, the longer I defer my wrath,—the worse they become. It is therefore necessary for preaching to cease, and for retribution to begin. I shall not permit my Spirit, that is my Word, to sit in judgment and to bear witness forever, and ...
— Commentary on Genesis, Vol. II - Luther on Sin and the Flood • Martin Luther

... 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 retirement ...
— Blake's Burden • Harold Bindloss

... intention to go to them myself, could the articles with which they expected to be presented on my arrival have been provided at these establishments; but as they could not be procured I was compelled to defer my visit until our canoes should arrive. Mr. Smith supposed that my appearance amongst them without the means of satisfying any of their desires would give them an unfavourable impression respecting the Expedition ...
— The Journey to the Polar Sea • John Franklin

... talking of the estate, which Nevil was supposed to look after. He did, when he remembered it, but that was not often, and not of late. His father, half exasperated, half laughing, told him he would defer his lecture till later on. Nevil penitently agreed it was only fitting to do so, and slipping his arm through his father's, began to explain to him the rights of a controversy just started in the Historical Review. No one was ever angry with Nevil long. ...
— Christopher Hibbault, Roadmaker • Marguerite Bryant

... about writing to say that I would obey your summons, and steal two or three days next week from my work to visit you, when a piece of information reached me, which has caused me, for your sake, to defer my journey. Perhaps you can guess what it is. You have too often expressed your fears of C.'s return to be surprised at their fulfilment, but I grieve to have to add to your anxieties at this moment by telling you that he is really in this neighbourhood. ...
— A Canadian Heroine, Volume 1 - A Novel • Mrs. Harry Coghill

... REED: I believe Senator Penney is to discuss a topic very closely affiliated with this one and perhaps it would be well to defer the discussion until ...
— Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Sixth Annual Meeting. Rochester, New York, September 1 and 2, 1915 • Various

... Lord; being firm and immutable in the faith, lovers of the brotherhood, lovers of one another, companions together in the truth, being kind and gentle toward each other, despising none. When it is in your power to do good, defer it not, for charity delivered from death. Be all of you subject one to another, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles; that by your good works both ye yourselves may receive praise and the Lord may not be blasphemed through you. But woe be to him by whom the name of the ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 03 • Various

... 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 ...
— The Colonel's Dream • Charles W. Chesnutt

... indorsed him and the best elements in the opposition parties voted for him did not shake his loyalty to his own people. And to Hamilton Cutler, as one of his party leaders, as one of the bosses of the "invisible government," he was willing to defer. But while he could give allegiance to his party leaders, and from them was willing to receive the rewards of office, from a rich brother-in-law he was not at all willing to accept anything. Still less was he willing that of the credit he deserved for years of hard work for ...
— Somewhere in France • Richard Harding Davis

... knows but you may grow into that ideal I cherish? I shall attend you constantly, pay court to you, take counsel with you, defer to you ...
— The Reckoning • Robert W. Chambers

... comedies, and noticing the undissimulated yawns of the parterre, he confessed, upon leaving the theatre, that no one had been more bored than he.[155] However, notwithstanding his readiness to acknowledge his own defects, and to defer to the opinions of others, Marivaux required the criticism to be ...
— A Selection from the Comedies of Marivaux • Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux

... time the wedding took place. It was solemnized at the boarding-house; and the bride and bridegroom disdaining to defer to the common usage, spent their honeymoon in their own house. Gagtooth had rented and furnished a little frame dwelling on the outskirts of the town, on the bank of the river; and thither the couple retired as soon as the hymeneal knot was tied. Next morning ...
— The Gerrard Street Mystery and Other Weird Tales • John Charles Dent

... husband!" exclaimed the Countess, as she stepped between the two men to prevent those words being spoken which would have led to an encounter. "Defer the conversation for the present. Permit me to ...
— Orphans of the Storm • Henry MacMahon

... that too often; but have not the old reasons lost their force? Even here we could make a home. Let us defer our marriage ...
— The False Chevalier - or, The Lifeguard of Marie Antoinette • William Douw Lighthall

... relations as had visited it, was up the river on which they lived, and over to that on which the white people lived, and which they knew discharged itself into the ocean. This route he advised us to take, but added, that we had better defer the journey till spring, when he would himself conduct us. This account persuaded us that the streams of which he spoke were southern branches of the Columbia, heading with the Rio des Apostolos, and Rio Colorado, and that ...
— History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, Vol. I. • Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

... day, Prince, that gives thee to our sight, Sun of Poland, whose glad light Makes this whole horizon gay, As when from the rosy fountains Of the dawn the stream-rays run, Since thou issuest like the sun From the bosom of the mountains! And though late do not defer With thy sovran light to shine; Round thy brow the laurel twine — ...
— Life Is A Dream • Pedro Calderon de la Barca

... finally condemned, orthodox Christians felt indebted to the Roman Church for its unwavering championship of "the faith once delivered to the saints." They were all the more ready, therefore, to defer to that church in matters of doctrine and to accept without question ...
— EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY • HUTTON WEBSTER

... since it left us virtually free to take the course which circumstances might authorize, in view of the main object to be attained. But it came too late to enable us to elaborate a plan for the meeting above referred to, and I obtained permission from the president, M. Leon Bourgeois, to defer the presentation of our scheme until about the middle of ...
— Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White Volume II • Andrew Dickson White

... possible that as many differences might exist between the electors as between their constituents. In this case it was necessary to have recourse to one of three measures; either to appoint new electors, or to consult a second time those already appointed, or to defer the election to another authority. The first two of these alternatives, independently of the uncertainty of their results, were likely to delay the final decision, and to perpetuate an agitation which ...
— Democracy In America, Volume 1 (of 2) • Alexis de Tocqueville

... would he defer quite so graciously and readily, to no one was he so scrupulously courtly in bearing as to those who constituted his ...
— Old Familiar Faces • Theodore Watts-Dunton

... 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 ...
— Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 8, January, 1851 • Various

... receive fifty lashes; but by the time the overseer had given him twenty-five with his great whip, the blood was standing round the wretched victim in little puddles. It appeared just as if it had rained blood.—Another observer stepped up, and advised to defer the other twenty-five to another time, lest the slave might die; and he was released, to receive the balance when he should have so recruited as to be able to bear it and live. The offence was, coming one ...
— The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus • American Anti-Slavery Society

... happiness.' Masha's image seemed to smile to him, to promise him success. 'I'm not going to be killed! not I!' he repeated with a serene smile. On the table lay the letter to his mother.... He felt a momentary pang at his heart. He resolved any way to defer sending it off. There was in Kister that quickening of the vital energies of which a man is aware in face of danger. He calmly thought over all the possible results of the duel, mentally placed Masha and himself in all the agonies of misery and parting, and looked forward ...
— The Jew And Other Stories • Ivan Turgenev

... House of Austria itself annihilated the Pragmatic Sanction, treating free and independent Hungary with the arrogance of a conqueror. The nation, more irritated by this act than by any preceding event, saw that the hour was come, beyond which further to defer the dethronement of the dynasty would be alike incompatible with the laws and the honour of Hungary. All the channels of public opinion, the public press, the popular meetings, and even the head quarters of the army, resounded with emphatic declarations of ...
— Select Speeches of Kossuth • Kossuth

... party, I might greet my colleague with such happy phrases about his caucus; but I will not, but, on the contrary, I commend his labors, and sincerely hope that he and his political friends may agree upon some plan to reach a specie standard, and not one to avoid to, to prevent it, to defer it. Under color of intending to prepare for it, I hope they will not make their measure the pretext for repealing the law as it stands, which fixes a day for resumption and will secure the ...
— Recollections of Forty Years in the House, Senate and Cabinet - An Autobiography. • John Sherman

... of heaven, because they defer coming to Christ until the time of God's patience and grace is over. Some indeed are resolved never to come; but some again say, "We will come hereafter;" and so it comes to pass, that because God called and they did not ...
— The Riches of Bunyan • Jeremiah Rev. Chaplin

... a single one. Two of them were merchants, one was a broker, and one was a mason. Nothing was to be learned from their occupation, and as it was too late to find the owners of the names and their places of business that day, I was obliged to defer ...
— Seek and Find - or The Adventures of a Smart Boy • Oliver Optic

... than is the case with their respective brothers. The training of the English girl starts from the very beginning on a different basis from that of the boy; she is taught to restrain her impulses, while his are allowed much freer scope; the sister is expected to defer to the brother from the time she can walk or talk. In America this difference of training is constantly tending to the vanishing point. The American woman has never learned to play second fiddle. The American girl, as Mr. Henry James says, is rarely negative; ...
— The Land of Contrasts - A Briton's View of His American Kin • James Fullarton Muirhead

... bedside of my husband, restored by your skill. I am glad the nurse has proved faithful. It was a good chance for her, for she shall be liberally paid, and no doubt the money will be welcome. But don't you think it might be more prudent for me to defer my return until next week? It will be safer, I think, and I owe it to my boy to be very careful. You know, the contagion may still exist. It is hard for me to remain longer away, when I would fain fly to the bedside of Mr. ...
— Only An Irish Boy - Andy Burke's Fortunes • Horatio Alger, Jr.

... at his watch, "it is now five o'clock, so I will defer making my statement until to-morrow; though I should prefer to make it now, if I had time. The story is a long one, and I shall have to take a considerable portion of your valuable time in telling it. Will you please to name the hour when I can meet you to-morrow, ...
— The Somnambulist and the Detective - The Murderer and the Fortune Teller • Allan Pinkerton

... my son, implanted in thy breast, Still to thy father's judgment to defer. This is the reason for which men desire To rear obedient offspring in their homes, Who may confront their father's enemy, And with him render service to his friends. The father of unprofitable sons— What does he else but for himself ...
— Specimens of Greek Tragedy - Aeschylus and Sophocles • Goldwin Smith

... is Lionel's knock: so I must defer it till another opportunity. Dear Auguste, give me one more kiss, ...
— Valerie • Frederick Marryat

... 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 ...
— The Kasidah of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi • Richard F. Burton

... the dedication and the baptism. In this we have an example from Jewish circumcision. The pious Jew took the infant when it was but eight days old, and had it circumcised. But many Christian parents defer the baptism of their children until late childhood, while their vows of dedication are left in mere naked feeling and resolution, having no sacramental force and expression; and as a consequence will ...
— The Christian Home • Samuel Philips

... defer every important design to a time of leisure, and a state of settled uniformity, proceeds generally from a false estimate of the human powers. If we except those gigantic and stupendous intelligences who are said to grasp a system by intuition, and bound forward from one series of conclusions ...
— The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, In Nine Volumes - Volume the Third: The Rambler, Vol. II • Samuel Johnson

... expenses of maintaining the republic. You can not fail to know of what importance it is to retrench those which are superfluous." "I confess to you that I am not more instructed with regard to this article than the other." "Then it is necessary to defer till another time the design that you have of enriching the republic; for it is impossible for you to benefit the state while you are ignorant ...
— Sanders' Union Fourth Reader • Charles W. Sanders

... turned very pale. "Defer your complaints until another time," he said, harshly. "What has ...
— Baron Trigault's Vengeance - Volume 2 (of 2) • Emile Gaboriau

... unavoidably given to this first branch of our subject, requires that we should defer the history of the modified small-pox, or varioloid disease, to the next quarter, when it shall appear in the corresponding number of ...
— North American Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, July, 1826 • Various

... that a very extensive confidence must be made, because in no other way could the mass of the Kalmuck population be persuaded to furnish their families with the requisite equipments for so long a migration. This critical step, however, it was resolved to defer up to the latest possible moment, and, at all events, to make no general communication on the subject until the time of departure should be definitely settled. In the meantime, Zebek admitted only three persons to his confidence; ...
— Narrative And Miscellaneous Papers • Thomas De Quincey

... a fine old mansion, is situated about five or six miles from this town: and as I arrived here late in the evening, and knew that his habits were reserved and peculiar, I thought it better to take "mine ease in my inn" for this night, and defer my visit to Mordaunt Court till to-morrow morning. In truth, I was not averse to renewing an old acquaintance,—not, as you in your malice would suspect, with my hostess, but with her house. Some years ago, when I was eighteen, I first made a slight acquaintance ...
— The Disowned, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... and wanted everything done in deference to the views of McClellan and Halleck. I said to Mr. Lincoln, "You know we are now in the last extremity, and you have to choose between adopting and at once executing a plan that you believe to be the right one, and save the country, or defer to the opinions of military men in command, and lose the country." He finally decided he would take the initiative, but there was Mr. Bates, who had suggested the gun-boat fleet, and wanted to advance down the Mississippi, as originally designed, but after a little he came to see ...
— History of Woman Suffrage, Volume II • Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage

... predecessors; that he might therefore consider his first demand granted; that the investiture of the kingdom was an affair that required deliberation in a council of cardinals, but he would do all he possibly could to induce them to accede to the king's desire; lastly, he must defer the affair of the sultan's brother till a time more opportune for discussing it with the Sacred College, but would venture to say that, as this surrender could not fail to be for the good of Christendom, as it was demanded ...
— The Borgias - Celebrated Crimes • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... ventured to form plans, which required very great learning; and he executed them to such perfection, that the Republic of Letters was struck with astonishment. But as he did not publish these works till after his return from France, we shall defer giving an account of them till we have first spoken of his journey thither, and displayed the situation of affairs in Holland, in whose government Grotius had ...
— The Life of the Truly Eminent and Learned Hugo Grotius • Jean Levesque de Burigny

... "lie low" till the storm had blown by. He was apparently quite unconscious of having broken any laws. Liszt was not so easy in his mind. He made inquiries: found that Wagner must bolt at once: it is supposed he somehow "squared" the local police official to defer executing the warrant; he got a passport in a false name, and six days after his arrival Richard set out again on his travels. What need be recorded about the journey to Zurich and the getting of Minna there, will best be ...
— Richard Wagner - Composer of Operas • John F. Runciman

... defer to a later period of this work what I have to say about Kumaon, to which we paid several visits, and where we spent the last years of our Indian life. Our journeying to and from Kumaon in 1847 was partly over the ground traversed on our trip to Agra in 1842-43, ...
— Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877 • James Kennedy

... in which the Handbook re-appears have compelled me to defer the fulfilment of Mr. Browning's wish, that its quotation references should be adapted to the use of readers of his new edition. They also leave it the poorer by some interesting notes which he more than once promised me for my ...
— A Handbook to the Works of Browning (6th ed.) • Mrs. Sutherland Orr

... to what soldiers shall eat in Lent, as if the laws of war and necessity did not over-ride all others without exception! Is it not a great thing that these good men submit themselves to the Church, and so defer to her as to ask her permission and blessing? God grant that they may do nothing worse than eat eggs, cheese, or beef; if they were guilty of nothing more heinous than that, there would not be so many ...
— The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales • Jean Pierre Camus

... consumed. I had an old pair of deer-skin mocassins on my feet: these we carefully divided amongst us. We had now serious thoughts of drawing lots, to see which of us should die, for the preservation of the rest. I, however, begged they would defer such a dreadful ...
— Twenty-Seven Years in Canada West - The Experience of an Early Settler (Volume I) • Samuel Strickland

... lower the boats. This task the sailors with great difficulty accomplished, and then, there being at the moment no immediate prospect of the wreck going to pieces, the boats were secured under the shelter of the ship, and it was determined to defer until daylight our attempt at landing, when the dangers of the enterprise could be distinctly seen and more easily avoided. About two hours elapsed between the first striking of the vessel and the launching of the boats, during which time I and my nieces were on deck in our night-dresses, ...
— The Log of the Flying Fish - A Story of Aerial and Submarine Peril and Adventure • Harry Collingwood

... offered by burghers, whose fathers had gained these charters with their blood, and his want of leisure during the vast labors which devolved upon him as the autocrat of so large a portion of the world, caused him to defer indefinitely the execution of his plan. He found time only to crush some of the foremost of the liberal institutions of the provinces, in detail. He found the city of Tournay a happy, thriving, self-governed little republic in all its local affairs; he destroyed its liberties, without a tolerable ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley

... 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 at Blank ...
— Green Tea; Mr. Justice Harbottle • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

... taste, that I am indebted for every good thing that I have penned; and where I have put down aught that is trite or insipid, it is due to my own natural obstinacy in refusing, or carelessness in neglecting, to defer the matter to your better judgment. Thus it is only right that whatever praise may be bestowed upon this book should be accorded to you; my shoulders alone must bear the censure of the ...
— The Book-Hunter at Home • P. B. M. Allan

... anxiety of a father to hear by what means she had been supported, and the motive which induced her to travel in the habit of a pilgrim, as the matter of the hotel had informed his servant; but that he would defer his satisfaction till she should be in a place ...
— The Fortunate Foundlings • Eliza Fowler Haywood

... unfortunate brother: the rules of the service are so strict, that prisoners are not permitted to have any communication with female relations; thus even the sight of, and conversation with, so truly affectionate a sister is for the present denied me! The happiness of such an interview let us defer till a time (which, please God, will arrive) when it can be enjoyed with more freedom, and unobserved by the gazing eyes of an inquisitive world, which in my present place of confinement would of ...
— The Eventful History Of The Mutiny And Piratical Seizure - Of H.M.S. Bounty: Its Cause And Consequences • Sir John Barrow

... encouraged her proposal, to be able to judge by her being in earnest or otherwise, whether one might depend upon the rest. But Mr. Williams again indiscreetly helped her to an excuse, by saying, that it was now best to defer it one Sunday, and till matters were riper for my appearance: and she readily took hold of it, and ...
— Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded • Samuel Richardson

... associations of his boyhood then made their last appeal. I was pleased at such a change, however temporary it might prove. He wished to go to church, and I determined that again I would subdue my curiosity and defer the questions I was burning to put till after our return from the morning service. Miss Maltravers had gone indoors to make some preparation, Sir John was in his wheel-chair on the terrace, and I was sitting by him ...
— The Lost Stradivarius • John Meade Falkner

... bravely: play the man. Look not on pleasures as they come, but go. Defer not the least vertue: life's poore span Make not an ell, by trifling in thy woe. If thou do ill, the joy fades, not the pains. If well, the pain doth ...
— Jackanapes, Daddy Darwin's Dovecot and Other Stories • Juliana Horatio Ewing

... part, could not deny that she felt strongly inclined to like Undine, notwithstanding the grounds of complaint she thought she had against this happy rival. The affection being mutual, the one persuaded her parents, the other her wedded lord, to defer the day of departure repeatedly; they even went so far as to propose that Bertalda should accompany Undine to the castle of Ringstetten, near the ...
— Famous Stories Every Child Should Know • Various

... not remain any longer in confinement; they can walk in the court of the palace, and you will keep guard over them. You, Datis, go at once to the hanging-gardens and order Boges to defer the execution of the sentence on the Egyptian Princess; and further, I wish messengers sent to the post-station mentioned by the Athenian, and the wounded man brought hither ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers

... 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 ...
— History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1 (of 4) - Compiled by Direction of His Majesty's Government • Frederick Maurice

... laugh rang out. "The same old Edgar!" he said. "Well I won't interfere with your journey except to defer it a bit. You are going home with me, to 'Duncan Lodge,' now—at least to supper and spend the night; and to stay as much longer as pleases you. Rose and the rest will be delighted to ...
— The Dreamer - A Romantic Rendering of the Life-Story of Edgar Allan Poe • Mary Newton Stanard

... Londoners. I recognized the fact that the country people in their innocence and goodness of heart would take kindly to the entertainment we had prepared for them, but for the town chaps it was an altogether different proposition. When I announced 'Pinafore' I felt satisfied they would defer their energies and lay low for the 'Merry, Merry Maiden and the Tar,' determining to have a little fun of their own kind with us on Saturday; but after the performance we struck tent and by early morning we were once more out ...
— A Pirate of Parts • Richard Neville

... be taken up very young, and transplanted about October; some yet for these hardy, and late springing trees, defer it till the winter be well over; but the earth had need be moist; and though they will grow tolerably in most grounds, yet do they generally affect the sound, black, deep, and fast mould, rather warm than over-wet and cold, and a little rising; for this produces the firmest timber; though ...
— Sylva, Vol. 1 (of 2) - Or A Discourse of Forest Trees • John Evelyn

... and ambitious projects.[*] It is even pretended, that Bellievre had orders, after making public and vehement remonstrances against the execution of Mary, to exhort privately the queen, in his master's name, not to defer an act of justice so necessary for their common safety.[**] But whether the French king's intercession were sincere or not, it had no weight with the queen; and she still persisted in her ...
— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part D. - From Elizabeth to James I. • David Hume



Words linked to "Defer" :   set back, knuckle under, cancel, deferral, probate, respite, accede, reschedule, shelve, suspend, put off, prorogue, give in, hold over, submit, scrub, hold, remit, scratch, buckle under, call, delay, put over, deferent, table, deferment, reprieve, yield, deference



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