Meaning of delivery in English

delivery

noun

/dɪˈlɪv.ər.i/ us

/dɪˈlɪv.ɚ.i/

delivery noun (OF PACKAGE ETC.)

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B1 [ C or U ]

the act of taking goods, letters, parcels, etc. to people's houses or places of work:

free delivery Delivery is free on orders over £30.

next-day delivery The price includes next-day delivery anywhere in the UK.

express delivery Please send this letter by express delivery.

home delivery The home delivery option was grayed out, meaning I had to collect from the store.

food delivery Customers can place food delivery orders via a smartphone app.

pizza delivery Salvatore was a part-time pizza delivery boy.

delivery of We get two deliveries of mail (= it is delivered twice) a day.

on delivery You can pay for the carpet on delivery (= when it is delivered).

take delivery of We expect to take delivery of (= receive) our new car next week.

delivery van After he left school he got a job driving a delivery van.

out for delivery Your order is out for delivery (= it has been given to the person who will deliver it) and will be with you soon.

Synonyms

boatload
cargo
consignment
freight 
load 
payload
shipment
truckload

More examplesFewer examples

You have to allow for a time lag between order and delivery.
Our head office will liaise with the suppliers to ensure delivery.
$200 is payable immediately with a further $100 payable on delivery.
They've decided to hold all future deliveries until the invoice has been paid.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Transferring and transporting objects

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Communications - the postal system

delivery noun (GIVING)

[ S or U ]

the supply of something, for example power to an engine, or the way that it is supplied:

The power delivery is extremely smooth, but the car is let down by the steering.

delivery of The drug increases the delivery of oxygen to muscles in the body.

The procedure promises great benefits in accurate delivery of radiation to treat tumours.

New media includes new methods of content delivery such as internet streaming.

[ S ]

the way in which someone speaks in public:

She did a perfect imitation of his breathless delivery.

Her delivery is deadpan, but hilarious.

[ C or U ]

in some sports, such as cricket or baseball, the act of throwing the ball towards the person with the bat, in order for that person to try to hit the ball:

That was a good delivery from Thompson.

The pitcher is famous for the speed of his delivery.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Giving, providing and supplying

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Ways of speaking

Cricket

delivery noun (KEEPING PROMISE)

[ U ]

the fact of achieving or producing something that has been promised:

delivery of Delivery of the hoped-for improvements hit a snag when they failed to recruit enough staff for the expansion.

There were plenty of promises, but no delivery.

More examplesFewer examples

During his official visit the president will push for the delivery of promised reconstruction aid.
Many people are growing increasingly troubled by lack of delivery in key services such as health and education.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Golf

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delivery noun (BIRTH)

[ C or U ]

a birth:

Her husband was with her for the delivery.

We want as many mothers as possible to have safe and normal deliveries.

Women who have the infection are at risk of pre-term delivery of their baby.

home delivery Carolina is considering a home delivery.

Related word

deliver (GIVE BIRTH)

See also

breech delivery

ventouse delivery

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Obstetrics: birth

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(Definition of delivery from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

delivery | American Dictionary

delivery

noun

/dɪˈlɪv·ə·ri/

delivery noun (TAKING GOODS)

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[ C/U ]

the act of taking goods, letters, or packages to people's houses or places of work:

[ C ] The company gets two deliveries a day.

[ U ] You can pay for the rug on delivery (= when it is received).

delivery noun (WAY OF SPEAKING)

[ U ]

the manner in which someone speaks, esp. in public:

His dialogue was offbeat, his delivery fast.

delivery noun (BIRTH)

[ C ]

the act or process of birth:

She had a difficult delivery.

(Definition of delivery from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

delivery | Business English

delivery

noun

/dɪˈlɪvəri/ us

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[ C or U ]

the act of taking goods, letters, parcels, etc. to a place:

Please allow 14 days for delivery.

mail/parcel/postal delivery

a delivery driver/truck/van

on delivery There's a 10% deposit to be paid, and then the balance has to be paid on delivery of the car.

next-day/same-day/overnight delivery The company has established links with florists across the UK for a same-day delivery service.

express/free delivery

The supermarket rose to the challenge with cost cuts and successful expansion into internet sales and home delivery.

delivery address/charges/terms

They make two deliveries a day.

[ C ]

an amount of goods received:

There were several faulty items in the last delivery.

[ U ]

the act of providing a service or supplying something to a customer:

The new proposals will allow the delivery of high-speed internet access without a phone line.

Providing targeted medical advice over the internet is the highest level yet of what the government calls the electronic delivery of public services.

[ U ] LAW

a situation in which a buyer is given control of something they have bought:

For a deed to convey ownership, there must be delivery and acceptance.

[ U ] FINANCE

used in the trading of futures to talk about the date when the shares or commodities (= goods) will be available to the buyer:

The price of gold for December delivery fell 20 cents an ounce.

take delivery of sth

to receive goods that you have bought:

Once the fashion show finishes, department store buyers will choose, order, and take delivery of clothes from all over the world.

Examples of delivery

delivery

In particular, implementation of regulations in the private sector should be taken as a policy opportunity to improve the delivery of health care.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This is not a straightforward task, since ethical considerations and infrequency of actual shoulder dystocia deliveries limit prospective, comparative study of various manoeuvres.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The main limitations in treating metastatic disease include poor vector transduction efficiencies and difficulties in targeting remote tumour cells with systemic vector delivery.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The role of antibiotic therapy in women at risk of early delivery is unclear.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Liposomes are lipid membrane particles that serve as vehicles or delivery systems for vaccine antigens.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Takes the value of 1 if there was an organizational diagram of the proposed management and delivery structure of the bid, 0 otherwise.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The prevention of preterm labour and delivery is the single most important challenge to modern obstetrics today.

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Oral delivery represents another attractive alternative to parenteral injection for large-scale human vaccination.

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In addition, given the differences in culture and health care delivery systems worldwide, the transferability of findings of some studies is a complex issue.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In conclusion, therefore, the creation and delivery of an integrated social policy of ageing rests on three crucial dimensions.

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However, economic progress and delivery of social services, such as healthcare and education, also depend on the success of the efforts to curb rampant corruption.

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The development of targeted therapies has also created a need to develop novel methods of drug delivery.

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Towards the end of pregnancy a raised blood pressure recording may be the sole indication for admission to hospital or even delivery.

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Results have varied with the termite species and strain of fungus tested, and the concentration of inoculum and its mode of delivery to termite populations.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The interesting question here is whether the delivery of (relatively less tangible) civil rights and political equality is sufficient to sustain democracy.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.