how to pronounce defer

/dɪˈfɜːɹ/

audio example by a male speaker

audio example by a female speaker

the above transcription of defer is a detailed (narrow) transcription according to the rules of the International Phonetic Association; you can find a description of each symbol by clicking the phoneme buttons in the secction below.

defer is pronounced in two syllables

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1.

2.

ɜː

example pitch curve for pronunciation of defer

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video examples of defer pronunciation

An example use of defer in a speech by a native speaker of british english:

“… so I happily defer to the better man the …”

meanings of defer

verb:

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).
To postpone induction into military service.
To submit to the opinion or desire of another in respect to their judgment or authority.
To render, to offer.
To delay, to wait.
(transitive) To delay or postpone.

defer frequency in english - C2 level of CEFR

the word defer occurs in english on average 2.1 times per one million words; this frequency warrants it to be in the study list for C2 level of language mastery according to CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference.

topics defer can be related to

it is hard to perfectly classify words into specific topics since each word can have many context of its use, but our machine-learning models believe that defer can be often used in the following areas:

1) business and work;

2) communication, information, and media;

3) people, society, and culture;