deferment

UK: /dɪˈfɜː^rmənt/ US: (di fûr′mənt)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

de•fer•ment  (di fûr′mənt), n. 

1. the act of deferring or putting off;
   postponement.
2. Military a temporary exemption from induction into military service.

• defer¹ + -ment 1605–15

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

de•fer¹ /dɪˈfɜr/   v. [ ~ + obj], -ferred, -fer•ring. 

1. to postpone;
   delay;
   put off action on:
   The pension is deferred until after age 65.
2. Military to exempt temporarily from being drafted into military service:
   He was deferred because he was in college.

de•fer•ment, n. 

[countable] He tried to get a deferment from military service.

See -fer-.

de•fer² /dɪˈfɜr/   v. [ ~ + to + obj], -ferred, -fer•ring. 

1. to yield respectfully in judgment or opinion:
   I deferred to my father's authority.

See -fer-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

de•fer¹  (di fûr′), v., -ferred, -fer•ring. 
v.t. 

1. to put off (action, consideration, etc.) to a future time:
   The decision has been deferred by the board until next week.
2. Military to exempt temporarily from induction into military service.

v.i. 

3. to put off action;
   delay.

• Middle English deferren, variant of differren to differ 1325–75

de•fer′rer, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. Defer, delay, postpone imply keeping something from occurring until a future time. To defer is to decide to do something later on:
  to defer making a payment.
  To delay is sometimes equivalent to defer, but usually it is to act in a dilatory manner and thus lay something aside:
  to delay one's departure.
  To postpone a thing is to put it off to (usually) some particular time in the future, with the intention of beginning or resuming it then:
  to postpone an election.
• 3. procrastinate.

de•fer²  (di fûr′), v., -ferred, -fer•ring. 
v.i. 

1. to yield respectfully in judgment or opinion (usually fol. by to):
   We all defer to him in these matters.

v.t. 

2. to submit for decision;
   refer:
   We defer questions of this kind to the president.

• Latin dēferre to carry from or down, report, accuse, equivalent. to dē- de- + ferre to bear¹
• late Middle English deferren 1400–50

Synonyms

• 1. accede, submit, acquiesce, capitulate.