In speaking to him as his mother, she had merely delayed her punishment.

Some checks were merely delayed; other people have gone for two months without a payment.

But do they knock the economy back on track or merely delay the inevitable?

And the proposed cuts could run far deeper than merely delaying the start of new programs.

Every minute we delay merely increases the cost of the final reckoning.

Those ashes were merely delayed in reaching their final resting place.

But this merely delayed for a while the inevitable.

Some say the rising property and share prices merely delay what will be a painful economic adjustment.

The ship could have gotten blown off course and is merely delayed.

But it all served to merely delay the inevitable.