Defer, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deferred; p. pr. & vb. n. Deferring.]
Etymology: [OE. differren, F. différer, fr. L. differre to delay, bear different ways; dis- + ferre to bear. See Bear to support, and cf. Differ, Defer to offer.]
To put off; to postpone to a future time; to delay the execution of; to delay; to withhold. Defer the spoil of the city until night. Shak. God . . . will not long defer To vindicate the glory of his name. Milton.
3 other Webster entries under this spelling
Defer, v. i.
To put off; to delay to act; to wait. Pius was able to defer and temporize at leisure. J. A. Symonds.
Defer, v. t.
1. To render or offer. [Obs.] Worship deferred to the Virgin. Brevint.
2. To lay before; to submit in a respectful manner; to refer; -- with to. Hereupon the commissioners . . . deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland. Bacon.
Defer, v. i.
To yield deference to the wishes of another; to submit to the opinion of another, or to authority; -- with to. The house, deferring to legal right, acquiesced. Bancroft.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for defer; he lists it under protract.
Where he writes about it:
We defer a negotiation which we are slow to enter upon; we protract a negotiation which we are slow to conclude; delay may be used of any stage in the proceedings; we may delay a person as well as an action, but defer and protract are not used of persons. — from protract
Postpone implies a definite intention to resume, as defer also does, though less decidedly; both are often used with some definite limitation of time; as, to postpone till, until, or to a certain day or hour. — from protract
One may defer, delay, or postpone a matter intelligently and for good reason; he procrastinates through indolence and irresolution. — from protract