postponement

From postpone + -ment.

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

postponement (countable and uncountable, plural postponements)

1. A delay, as a formal delay in a proceeding.

   The lawyer asked for a postponement in the trial so he could spend more time preparing before it began.

   • 1976 February 7, Philip Gambone, “Coming Out: The Gay Identity Process”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 32, page 4:

     The postponement of homosexual behavior in men who know that they are homosexual can cause psychological anxiety and retard mature ego development.

• cunctation, hold-up; see also Thesaurus:delay