Past tense of defer
regular verb
The past tense of defer is deferred. The past participle is also deferred.
Forms of defer
| Base form (V1) | defer /dɪˈfɜː/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | deferred /dɪˈfɜːd/ |
| Past participle (V3) | deferred /dɪˈfɜːd/ |
| Present participle | deferring |
| Third person singular | defers |
Deferred in a sentence
- He pleaded guilty and the case against him was deferred, with Jahn being placed on probation.2025 September 25, Amanda Musa, Priscilla Alvarez, Leigh Waldman, “A detainee is dead after officials say a shooter fired…. From the entry Jahn
- And the more she picked up the slack, the more he backed off and deferred to her.2010, Gillian Ranson, Against the Grain, page 129. From the entry pick up the slack
- Full reproductive status (social maturity) is deferred until full size and competitive vigour are developed.2010, Linnean Society of New South Wales, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, →OCLC. From the entry beachmaster
- Farming was on “the toboggan.” New settlers who had purchased land could not meet their deferred payments.1989, C.W. Peterson, Wake Up, Canada!: Reflections on Vital National Issues. From the entry toboggan
- The further consideration of this tissue is deferred to a later section.1926, Beckwith Whitehouse, “A Contribution to the Pathology and Causation of Dysmenorrhoea.*”, in The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynæcology…. From the entry diaper
Meaning of defer
- verb To delay or postpone.
- verb To postpone induction into military service.
- 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).
Questions about the past tense of defer
- What is the past tense of defer?
- The past tense of defer is deferred.
- What is the past participle of defer?
- The past participle of defer is deferred.
- Is defer a regular or irregular verb?
- Defer is a regular verb: its past tense doubles the last letter and adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: defer (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this page: “Past tense of defer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/defer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.