post ‧ pone /pəʊsˈpəʊn $ poʊsˈpoʊn/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: postponere , from ponere ; ⇨ ↑ position 1 ]
to change the date or time of a planned event or action to a later one SYN put back OPP bring forward :
The match had to be postponed until next week.
postpone doing something
They’ve decided to postpone having a family for a while.
His trial has been postponed indefinitely (=no one knows when it will happen) .
—postponement noun [uncountable and countable]
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THESAURUS
▪ postpone verb [transitive] to change the date or time of a planned event or action to a later one:
The game was postponed because of heavy snow.
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We had to postpone the trip because of my father’s illness.
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The trial has been postponed until November.
▪ put something off phrasal verb [transitive] to decide to do something later than you planned to do it or later than you should do it, especially because there is a problem or because you do not want to do it now:
I really should go to the dentist, but I keep putting it off.
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The concert’s been put off till next week.
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The committee decided to put off making any decision until the new year.
▪ delay verb [transitive] to not do something until something else has happened or until a more suitable time:
He decided to delay his departure until after he’d seen the Director.
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Police delayed making any announcement until the girl’s relatives had been contacted.
▪ procrastinate verb [intransitive] formal to delay doing something that you ought to do, usually because you do not want to do it – used especially to show disapproval:
Kerry procrastinated for as long as possible before firing anyone.
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He had been procrastinating over starting the work.
▪ be pushed/moved/put back if an event is pushed back, someone arranges for it to be held at a later time or date than originally planned:
Their meeting has been put back to next Thursday.
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The museum’s opening date was pushed back so that safety checks could be carried out.
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The game on April 1 has been moved back to April 5.
▪ shelve verb [transitive] to decide not to continue with a plan, project etc now although it may be considered again at some time in the future:
Plans for a new stadium have been shelved for now.
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The city shelved the project due to lack of funding.
▪ put something on ice/put something on the back burner to decide not to continue with a plan, project etc until a later time. These expressions are rather informal and are often used in business English:
The project has had to be put on ice due to lack of funding.
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Blears called for the discussions to be put on ice until after the elections.
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The plan seems to have been put on the back burner.