Definition of "defer"

defer¹

/dɪˈfɜː(ɹ)/

verb
third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred
1. (transitive) To delay or postpone
  Quotations
  Deferre the ſpoile of the Citie vntill night:
  1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene vii], page 141, column 2
  My journey to Ingolstadt, which had been deferred by these events, was now again determined upon.
  1818, [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, page 65
  1. (especially more common, historically) to postpone induction into military service.
2. (American football) After winning the opening coin toss, to postpone until the start of the second half a team's choice of whether to kick off or receive (and to allow the opposing team to make this choice at the start of the first half).
3. (intransitive) To delay, to wait.
  Quotations
  God […] will not long defer / To vindicate the glory of his name
  1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], page 34, lines 474–476

defer²

/dɪˈfɜː(ɹ)/

verb
third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred
1. (transitive, intransitive) To submit to the opinion or desire of others in respect to their judgment or authority.
  Quotations
  Hereupon the commissioners […] deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland.
  1622, Francis Bacon, History of the Reign of King Henry VII
  "Defer/Defer/To the Lord High Executioner."
  1885, W.S. Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, The Mikado
  "Well, I must defer to your judgment. You are captain," he said with marked civility.
  1899 March, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number MI, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], part II
2. To render, to offer.
  Quotations
  worship deferred to the Virgin
  1872, Daniel Brevint, Saul and Samuel at Endor