delayed-action

American  

[dih-leyd-ak-shuhn] / dɪˈleɪdˈæk ʃən /

Also delay-action

adjective

1. (of an explosive projectile) exploding some time after hitting the target.

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delayed action British  

noun

1. 1. a device for operating a mechanism, such as a camera shutter, a short time after setting

   2. ( as modifier )

      a delayed-action fuse

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Etymology

Origin of delayed-action

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

In a delayed-action scenario, debt in 2050-51 would be 23% of GDP higher than in the early-action scenario, it said.

From Reuters • Jul. 6, 2021

One person close to the family described her influence as a delayed-action fuse: at times the president will mention a point Ms. Trump made, uncredited, days later.

From New York Times • Apr. 15, 2017

Where the arrangements solidify, they often use Pink Floyd’s techniques, including delayed-action drumbeats and gleaming keyboard tones that chime in while a power chord reverberates.

From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2009

The hidden truths about their unshared lives pop up when least expected, a delayed-action effect that Munro achieves by casting the story as an unsent letter from the woman to her former lover.

From Time Magazine Archive

A geyser of sparks erupts deep within a house—an electrical transformer or hoarded fuel or maybe a delayed-action bomb—and it looks to him as if lightning lashes the town from within.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr