2 meanings, 7 uses
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1 —3 uses as in:
deferred the decision
Definition
delay or postpone (hold off until a later time)
- the promise of thousands of years, till now deferr'd,Book 14 — Song of the Redwood-Tree (92% in)
deferr'd = postponed (put off)
(editor's note: This is more commonly spelled deferred.)
(editor's note: This is more commonly spelled deferred.)
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- Be it so, then I answer'd, I too haughty Shade also sing war, and a longer and greater one than any, Waged in my book with varying fortune, with flight, advance and retreat, victory deferr'd and wavering, (Yet methinks certain, or as good as certain, at the last,) the field the world, For life and death, for the Body and for the eternal Soul, Lo, I too am come, chanting the chant of battles, I above all promote brave soldiers.Book 1 — 1NSCRIPTIONS (10% in)
- ...and the polite pass, and leave ashes, Admirers, importers, obedient persons, make but the soil of literature, America justifies itself, give it time, no disguise can deceive it or conceal from it, it is impassive enough, Only toward the likes of itself will it advance to meet them, If its poets appear it will in due time advance to meet them, there is no fear of mistake, (The proof of a poet shall be sternly deferr'd till his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorb'd it.Book 23 — By Blue Ontario's Shore.... (67% in)
There are no more uses of "defer" flagged with this meaning in Leaves of Grass.
Typical Usage
(best examples)
2 —1 use as in:
deferred to her wishes
Definition
submit or yield (typically to another person's opinion because of respect for that person or their knowledge)
- To be servile to none, to defer to none, not to any tyrant known or unknown,Book 11 — A Song of Joys (74% in)
defer = submit (or yield)
There are no more uses of "defer" flagged with this meaning in Leaves of Grass.
Typical Usage
(best examples)
? —3 uses
exact meaning not specified
- Curious in time I stand, noting the efforts of heroes, Is the deferment long? bitter the slander, poverty, death?Book 26 — Passage to India (65% in)
- I will not be outfaced by irrational things, I will penetrate what it is in them that is sarcastic upon me, I will make cities and civilizations defer to me, This is what I have learnt from America—it is the amount, and it I teach again.Book 23 — By Blue Ontario's Shore.... (88% in)
- Mother, bend down, bend close to me your face, I know not what these plots and wars and deferments are for, I know not fruition's success, but I know that through war and crime your work goes on, and must yet go on.Book 23 — By Blue Ontario's Shore.... (93% in)
There are no more uses of "defer" in Leaves of Grass.
Typical Usage
(best examples)