Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Postpone |
PostponeVerb1. Hold back to a later time; "let's postpone the exam". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "postpone" was first used: 1500. (references) |
Note: Postpone \Post*pone"\, transitive verb. [imperative past participle Postponed; present participle verb or noun Postponing.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definition |
Law | Motion to delay action on matters before the house. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: PostponeSynonyms: defer (v), hold over (v), put off (v), put over (v), remit (v), set back (v), shelve (v), table (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Lateness | Put off, defer, delay, lay over, suspend; table; shift off, stave off; waive, retard, remand, postpone, adjourn; procrastinate; dally; prolong, protract; spin out, draw out, lengthen out, stretch out; prorogue; keep back; tide over; push to the last, drive to the last; let the matter stand over; reserve; (store); temporize; consult one's pillow, sleep on it. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Postpone |
| English words defined with "postpone": call, call off, cancel, charge ♦ defer, dilly-dally, drag one's feet ♦ hold over ♦ Postponing, Postposit, procrastinate, put off, put over ♦ remit, reprieve, respite ♦ set back, shelve, shillyshally, stall ♦ table, To lay on the table, To put over. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "postpone": bisque clause ♦ carrying-over rate ♦ extendible bond, extendible note, extendible-maturity bond, extendible-maturity note. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "postpone": Postposit, Postposition, Postpositive. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | No! We are not gonna postpone the rehearsal for some stupid cat! (Meet the Parents; writing credit: Greg Glienna; Mary Ruth Clarke) I heard he's gonna postpone and wait till it's over. (Rosemary's Baby; writing credit: Roman Polanski) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | If the Commission shall determine that the full exercise of the foregoing options would interfere unduly with the industrial requirements of Germany, the Commission is authorised to postpone or to cancel deliveries, and in so doing to settle all questions of priority; but the coal to replace coal from destroyed mines shall receive priority over other deliveries. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | IVIG has been used in chronic ITP to postpone the requirement for a splenectomy. (references) | |
It is best if you can postpone travel to a malaria-risk area during your pregnancy. (references) | ||
Postpone non-emergency dental procedures if your blood sugar is not in good control. (references) | ||
Business | In exceptional cases, however, it may be deemed too costly to postpone the awarding of a tender and the procurement will be allowed to proceed. (references) | |
One was the government decision in early 1997 to postpone indefinitely the development of the consumer credit industry for the purchase of cars. (references) | ||
The DIW and PCD were planning to issue a regulation that would require certain industries to retrofit its' stacks with CEMs in 1998, but have had to postpone this due to the economic recession. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Algeria | Protesters demanded that the Government withdraw the gendarmerie from Kabylie, recognize Amazigh as a co-equal national language with Arabic, indemnify victims of recent disturbances, and postpone national school exams so Berber students would not be disadvantaged for participating in the demonstrations. (references) |
Chile | The CNT issues occasional warnings to networks and cable providers and sometimes obliges them to postpone the showing of certain films until after 10 p.m. It also occasionally levies fines. (references) | |
Economic History | Brazil | The current power rationing, a strong leftist opposition to privatization, and the Presidential elections in October 2002 are expected to postpone these privatizations for 2003. (references) |
Human Rights | Brunei | Sentences of caning are carried out in the presence of a doctor who monitors implementation and has the authority to interrupt and postpone the punishment for medical reasons. (references) |
Indonesia | In November 2000, the Cabinet decided to further postpone implementation of the law to permit additional discussion and possible amendments. (references) | |
Guatemala | The report further details the ease in which payments can be made to justice workers to postpone trials, expedite motions, alter evidence or issue rulings in a predetermined manner. (references) | |
Indigenous People | Argentina | To clarify the discrepancy, the national census scheduled to take place in 2000 was to have collected information about indigenous identity for the first time; however, funding shortfalls required the Federal Government to postpone the census until mid-November, with results expected in 2002. Existing census data show that poverty rates are higher than average in areas with large indigenous populations. (references) |
Minorities | Macedonia | Due to the high number of displaced persons and refugees and a lack of preparation, ethnic-Macedonian and ethnic-Albanian leaders agreed to postpone a new national census--originally scheduled for October--until April 2002. All citizens are equal under the law, and the Constitution provides for enhanced protection of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious identity of minorities, including state support for education in minority languages through secondary school. (references) |
Political Economy | IRELAND | In the Commission's eyes, Ireland breached the European Union's Broad Economic Policy Guidelines, and it was obligated to either postpone future tax cuts or cut back on public spending. (references) |
Political Rights | Macedonia | A national census was planned for October, and was specifically called for in the Framework Agreement; however, leaders of all major ethnic-Macedonian and ethnic-Albanian political parties agreed to postpone it until April 2002. As grounds for their decision, they cited large numbers of displaced persons and refugees absent from their homes, lack of adequate preparation, and continuing security concerns in areas of conflict. (references) |
Jordan | Parliamentary elections had been scheduled to be held during the year; however, the King exercised his authority under the Constitution to postpone elections for up to 2 years, indicating that elections would be held no earlier than summer 2002. At year's end, the King had not announced a specific date for elections and the Parliament remained dissolved. (references) | |
Jordan | The King proposes and dismisses extraordinary sessions of Parliament and may postpone regular sessions for up to 60 days. (references) | |
Trade | Brazil | It allows importers to postpone the payment of sales tax (known as the ICMS) for a period up to 70 days. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Rush Limbaugh | That's why Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged congressional leaders to postpone a vote on a resolution expressing solidarity with Israel. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
John F. Kennedy | 1961-1963 | Therefore, by holding down the budgetary cost of existing programs to keep within the limitations I have set, it is both possible and imperative to adopt other new measures that we cannot afford to postpone. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | If we postpone this urgent work now, it will simply have to be done later, and later we will pay a much higher price. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | Even though I have submitted it within the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit reduction target, I have seen suggestions that we might postpone that timetable. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Postpone" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 93.73% of the time. "Postpone" is used about 335 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 93.73% | 314 | 16,289 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 5.37% | 18 | 82,615 |
| Noun (singular) | 0.9% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 335 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "postpone": postpone the sessions ♦ to postpone an issue. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
postpone | 9 |
period postpone | 6 |
postpone wedding | 4 |
menstruation postpone | 4 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "postpone"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | zgjat (delay, elongate, extend, hold out, last, lengthen, let down, linger, prolong, protract, reach, reach out, spread, stretch, telescope), zgjas (carry over, delay, drag out, draw out, elongate, extend, lengthen, let down, project, prolong, protract, spin out, spread, stretch), shtyj (actuate, adjourn, bring, carry over, dare, delay, detrude, dig, dispose, drive, dub, flip, goad, hang up, hold over, hustle, impel, incite, induce, instigate, jab, jog, jolt, jostle, jumble, lead on, leave over, lengthen, motivate, motive, move, pressurize, propel, push, recess, shove, thrust, trundle, urge, waive, walk). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | ماطل (delay, procrastinate, put off, stall, temporize), جعله في المقام الثاني, أخر (delay, detain, intercept, protract, put back, retard, set back, wait), أجل (adjourn, carry over, continue, defer, delay, dignify, esteem, glorify, hold over, honor, honour, look up to, procrastinate, prorogue, put back, put off, rather, refer back, regard, remit, set aside, shelve, stall, suspend, table, value, yep, yes), أرجأ (defer, procrastinate, prorogue, protract, put off, remit, reserve, respite, waive). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | отсрочвам (adjourn, continue, defer, put off), отлагам (carry over, defer, delay, drive, hold over, lay over, leave over, lie over, precipitate, procrastinate, prorogue, put back, put off, put over, respite, scrub, shelve, shunt, sidetrack, stay, suspend), забавям (arrest, cool, defer, delay, detain, hang up, hold back, hold off, hold over, inhibit, put back, put over, retard, set back, sidetrack, slacken, slow, slow down, stave off, steady). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 延期 (delay, extension). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | odroèit (adjourn, prorogue, recess, remand, reprieve, retard), odložit (abort, adjourn, cast aside, cast off, defer, delay, discard, doff, get off, hang out, hold over, lay aside, lay by, Park, put aside, put away, put off, recess, reprieve, stay, suspend, take off, throw away), odkládat (hold over, procrastinate, temporize). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | udsætte (adjourn, delay, hold in abeyance, procrastinate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | verdagen (adjourn, delay, hold in abeyance, procrastinate), uitstellen (adjourn, delay, hold in abeyance, procrastinate), aanhouden (adjourn, arrest, continue, delay, endure, halt, hold, hold in abeyance, keep ... burning, keep on, last, persevere, persist, procrastinate, pursue one's point, stop). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | prokrasti (delay, hold in abeyance, procrastinate, put off), suspendi. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Faeroese | drála (adjourn, delay, hesitate, hold in abeyance), bíða við (adjourn, delay, hold in abeyance). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | پست تردانستن , موکول کردن (Relegate), عقب انداختن (Ail, Defer, Hinder), دردرجه دوم گذاشتن , بتعویق انداختن (Defer, Retard). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | siirtää tuonnemmaksi (defer, put off), lykätä tuonnemmaksi (put off), lykätä (adjourn, defer, push, put off, refer). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | retarder, ajourner, suspendre. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | vertagen (adjourn, defer, delay, hold in abeyance, procrastinate, prorogue), verschieben (alter, change, defer, delay, dislodge, displace, hold over, leave over, move, put back, put off, relocate, relocating, remit, ruck up, scrolls, shift, shunt, slant, to displace, to relocate, traffic in), aufschieben (adjourn, defer, delay, hold in abeyance, procrastinate, push back, put off, set aside, shelve, shelving, slide back, slide open, suspend, to defer, to delay, to put off, to suspend). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | αναβάλλω (adjourn, call off, cancel, defer, delay, hold over, procrastinate, prorogue, put off, respite, set back, stall, stay). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | ל"ש"ות (defer, detain, retard, withhold), ל"אחיר (delay, retard), ל"חות (cast away, defer, dismiss, hold off, repel, set aside, suspend). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | halaszt (adjourn, delay, hold in abeyance, put off, to adjourn, to hold over, to intermit, to protract). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | menunda (adjourn, cancel, defer, delay), mengurungkan (call off, encage), menangguhkan (cancel, defer, table), membatalkan (annul, countermand, delay, disqualify, nullify, quash, rescind, revoke). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | rimandare (adjourn, bandy, delay, hold over, prorogue, put off, refer, send again, send back, shelve). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 先送り . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | さきおくり. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 연기하십시". (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | shlearaghey (delay, postponement, procrastinate, procrastination), lhiggey shaghey (condone, defer, indolence, neglect, omit), cur jeh (abort, deter, disrobe, postponement, shake off, undressing, waive, work off). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Papiamen | aplasá (adjourn, delay, hold in abeyance). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ostponepay przesuwać, odkładać. (various references) adiar (adjourn, defer, delay, drive, hold over, put off, respite, shelve, stay, suspend, wait, waive). (various references) lãsa pentru mai târziu, amâna (adjourn, continue, dally, delay, drive, hang up, hold over, leave over, procrastinate, protract, put by, put off, refer, reprieve, shunt, stay), întîrzia (adjourn, delay, hold in abeyance). (various references) откладывать (adjourn, defer, deposit, hang up, hoard, hold over, lay aside, lay by, leave over, put aside, put away, put by, put off, put over, reserve, set apart, set aside, set by, shunt, store, suspend). (various references) prolongirati (extend, prolong), odložiti (adjourn, carry over, defer, delay, lay aside, put off, remit, reprieve, reserve, respite, retard, stay, table), odgoditi (adjourn, defer, delay). (various references) posponer (carry over, hold over, leave over, put off, subordinate, table). (various references) uppskjuta (adjourn, carry over, defer, delay, hold over, launch, lay over, leave over, put off, remit, suspend), skjuta upp (blast off, hold off, hunch, launch), bordlägga (plank, table). (various references) tecil etmek (defer), sonraya bırakmak (adjourn, put off, put on one side, reserve, sleep on, stand over), geciktirmek (adjourn, delay, hold up, impede, keep back, procrastinate, put back, retard, set back, sidetrack, stall, stall off, stave off), ertelemek (adjourn, carry over, continue, defer, delay, hang up, hold off, hold over, lay aside, lay by, lay over, leave over, procrastinate, put off, reprieve, reserve, respite, scrub, shelve, sidetrack, stay, suspend, table, waive), atma (banishment, bragging, cast, chuck, ejectment, elimination, fling, heave, heaving, hurl, inset, ouster, pelt, projectile, shoot, shy, tell us another, throw, throwing, volley). (various references) uzaklaюdyrmak (draw out, put off). (various references) відстрочувати (adjourn, defer, delay, lay over, prolong, prolongate, prorogue, put off), відкладати (adjourn, defer, delay, deposit, hold over, lay aside, lay past, leave over, procrastinate, prorogue, put aside, put over, respite, set apart, set aside, set by, stand over, suspend, wait). (various references) oedi (adjourn, defer, delay), gohirio (adjourn, defer), addoedi (delay, prorogue). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | ampliatum, ampliavit, differo, postponere, profero, transfer, transferam, transferantur, transferas, transferatur, transferebat, transferens, transferentes, transferentur, transferes, transferet, transferimini, transferre, transferrem, transferrent, transferret, transferri, transfert, transfertur, translata, translati, translatique, translato, translatum, translatus, translatusque, transtulerat, transtulerit, transtulerunt, transtuli, transtulisti, transtulit. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "postpone": postponed, postponement, postponements, postponer, postponers, postpones. (additional references) | |
| |
"Postpone" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: oestrone, Paxstone, Pesapane, pospone, postepone, postphone, postpond, postponse, postpont, ppostpone, prospone. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-n-o-o-p-p-s-t" | |
-2 letters: netops, oppose, pontes. | |
-3 letters: estop, netop, noose, notes, onset, opens, peons, pepos, pesto, poets, pones, poons, poops, popes, seton, snoop, snoot, spent, spoon, steno, stone, stoop, stope, tones, toons, topes, topos. | |
-4 letters: eons, epos, nest, nets, noes, nope, nose, note, ones, onto, oops, oots, open, opes, opts, pens, pent, peon, pepo, peps, peso. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-n-o-o-p-p-s-t" | |
+1 letter: opponents, postponed, postponer, postpones. | |
+2 letters: postponers, proponents. | |
+3 letters: postponable, preportions, preposition, propionates, townspeople. | |
+4 letters: lipoproteins, nonphosphate, oppositeness, postponement, prepositions, protoplanets, reapportions. | |
+5 letters: depopulations, nonphosphates, opportuneness, opportunities, postponements, prepositional, propositioned, repopulations, superposition. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)50 6F 73 74 70 6F 6E 65 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).--. --- ... - .--. --- -. . |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010000 01101111 01110011 01110100 01110000 01101111 01101110 01100101 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)P o s t p o n e |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0050 006F 0073 0074 0070 006F 006E 0065 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)5081858682818071 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Quotations: Historic 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Quotations: Spoken | 9. Quotations: Speeches 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Anagrams | 17. Orthography 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.