postponementn.

1757 Hist. Cleanthes & Celemene I. ix. 214 This is only a Reprieve, a short Postponement of my Death, and not a Cure.

1775 T. Jefferson Public Papers ix. 410 A gradual introduction would lessen the inconveniences... Too long a postponement, on the other hand, would increase the difficulties.

1836 H. Taylor Statesman xii. 83 The repetition of acts of postponement on any subject tends more and more to the subjugation of the active power in relation to it.

1868 C. Dickens Let. 17 May (2002) XII. 111 Your lawyer..begged me to tell you that he could have tried the case this month, but sought postponement for two reasons.

1955 R. Macintosh & M. Ostlere Local Analgesia Head & Neck xvi. 119 The resultant rise in intra-ocular tension may necessitate the postponement of the operation.

1994 Sun (Baltimore) 15 Mar. a7/6 When her case went to trial Feb. 17, prosecutors asked for a postponement.

1830 H. N. Coleridge Introd. Greek Poets 131 That spirit of comparative neglect and postponement with which the maternal relationship was generally treated amongst the Greeks.

1879 H. Spencer Data of Ethics §96. 251 That postponement of self to others which constitutes altruism.

1897 H. James in Harper's Weekly 27 Mar. Heaven forbid I should so tie my hands as to hint that form is susceptible of postponement or relegation; all I mean is that our perception of it sometimes may be.

1972 R. Quirk et al. Gram. Contemp. Eng. 967 In many cases, the postponed elements no doubt undergo postponement because their length and complexity would otherwise lead to an awkwardly unbalanced sentence.

1990 H. Jackson Gram. & Meaning 251 Postponement brings into ‘end-focus’ position..items that would not normally occur there in the neutral form of a sentence.