postpone
[verb]
Synonyms: put off, adjourn, defer, delay, put back, put on the back burner (informal), shelve, suspend

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English Thesaurus: cancel, call off, be off, postpone, shelve, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

post‧pone /pəʊsˈpəʊn $ poʊsˈpoʊn/ verb [transitive]
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: Latin; Origin: postponere, from ponere; ⇒ position¹]
to change the date or time of a planned event or action to a later one Synonym : put back Antonym : bring forward:
The match had to be postponed until next week.
postpone doing something
They’ve decided to postpone having a family for a while.
His trial has been postponed indefinitely (=no one knows when it will happen).
—postponement noun [uncountable and countable]

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

postpone
verb
ADV. indefinitely The event has been postponed indefinitely due to lack of interest.
merely The inevitable conflict was merely postponed till the next meeting.
VERB + POSTPONE agree to, decide to, vote to | be forced to | ask sb to Ruth wrote at once, asking Maria to postpone her visit.
PREP. for Our visit had been postponed for several weeks.
from, to The match has been postponed from Wednesday night to Friday night.
till/until The meeting has been postponed until next week.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

cancel to decide that something that was officially planned will not happen:
The teacher was ill so classes were cancelled for the day.
I was feeling better so I cancelled my doctor’s appointment.
They were forced to cancel the concert when the conductor became ill.
call off to cancel a meeting, game, or event that you have organized. Call off is less formal than cancel and is very commonly used in everyday English:
Linda decided to call the wedding off.
The game was called off due to heavy rain.
be off if an event or activity is off, it has been cancelled because of a sudden problem or change in someone’s plans:
I’m afraid the party’s off. Nick won’t let us use his apartment.
Myers called me yesterday to tell me that the deal was off.
postpone to decide to do something at a later time, instead of the time that was officially planned:
The show has been postponed until next Saturday.
shelve (also put something on ice) to decide not to continue with a plan, project etc although it may be considered again at some time in the future:
Plans for a new stadium have been shelved for now.
The project had to be put on ice due to lack of funding.
Blears called for the discussions to be put on ice until after the elections.
annul formal to officially decide that a marriage, result, or agreement has no legal authority and is therefore cancelled:
The election results were annulled by the courts.
A marriage can be annulled if there has been lack of consent.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

delay to wait until a later time to do something:
He decided to delay his decision until he had seen the full report.
postpone to change an event to a later time or date:
The meeting was postponed.
put off to delay doing something. Put off is less formal than delay or postpone, and is the usual phrase to use in everyday English:
I used to put off making difficult decisions.
The game has been put off till next week.
hold off to delay doing something, especially while you are waiting for more information or for something else to happen:
House buyers seem to be holding off until interest rates drop.
defer formal to delay doing something until a later date, usually because something else needs to happen first:
The decision had been deferred until after a meeting of the directors.
She decided to defer her university application for a year so that she could go travelling.
procrastinate /prəˈkræstəneɪt, prəˈkræstɪneɪt/ formal to delay doing something that you ought to do:
Don’t procrastinate – make a start on your assignments as soon as you get them.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

postpone verb [transitive] to change the date or time of a planned event or action to a later one:
The game was postponed because of heavy snow.
We had to postpone the trip because of my father’s illness.
The trial has been postponed until November.
put something off phrasal verb [transitive] to decide to do something later than you planned to do it or later than you should do it, especially because there is a problem or because you do not want to do it now:
I really should go to the dentist, but I keep putting it off.
The concert’s been put off till next week.
The committee decided to put off making any decision until the new year.
delay verb [transitive] to not do something until something else has happened or until a more suitable time:
He decided to delay his departure until after he’d seen the Director.
Police delayed making any announcement until the girl’s relatives had been contacted.
procrastinate verb [intransitive] formal to delay doing something that you ought to do, usually because you do not want to do it – used especially to show disapproval:
Kerry procrastinated for as long as possible before firing anyone.
He had been procrastinating over starting the work.
be pushed/moved/put back if an event is pushed back, someone arranges for it to be held at a later time or date than originally planned:
Their meeting has been put back to next Thursday.
The museum’s opening date was pushed back so that safety checks could be carried out.
The game on April 1 has been moved back to April 5.
shelve verb [transitive] to decide not to continue with a plan, project etc now although it may be considered again at some time in the future:
Plans for a new stadium have been shelved for now.
The city shelved the project due to lack of funding.
put something on ice/put something on the back burner to decide not to continue with a plan, project etc until a later time. These expressions are rather informal and are often used in business English:
The project has had to be put on ice due to lack of funding.
Blears called for the discussions to be put on ice until after the elections.
The plan seems to have been put on the back burner.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲