mindmap root((推迟)) defer implies a deliberate putting off to a later date or time: ~red payment of the loan. postpone implies an intentional deferring usually to a definite time: the game was ~d until Saturday. suspend implies a temporary stopping with an added suggestion of waiting until some expressed or implied condition is satisfied: all business has been ~d while repairs are being made. stay suggests the stopping or checking by an intervening obstacle, agency, or authority: measures intended to ~ the rapid rate of inflation.