delivery
Pluraldeliveries (some meanings)
- 1The act of conveying something to a person or destination.
The company guarantees next-day delivery to most cities.
Heavy snow delayed delivery of the morning mail.
UsageUsually delivery of something to a place; as a service, free delivery or next-day delivery.
Similarshipping, dispatch, distribution, conveyance, transport
- 2The work of supplying a service or bringing about a promised outcome, carried out by a government, business, or other organization.
The new governor vowed to improve the delivery of health care in rural counties.
Investors judged the CEO on delivery, not on the ambitious targets she kept announcing.
UsageUsually delivery of services, or delivery on a promise or target.
Similarprovision, implementation, execution
- 3The act of giving birth to a child.
The midwife assisted with the delivery in the family home.
Complications during delivery required an emergency operation.
UsageOften during delivery or in labor and delivery; a doctor or midwife delivers the baby.
Similarbirth, childbirth
- 4The manner in which someone speaks or sings, including style, timing, and expression.
His dry delivery gave the punchline its perfect timing.
The singer's emotional delivery brought the crowd to tears.
UsageUsually with a possessive or an adjective: her delivery, a dry delivery, his calm delivery.
Similarstyle, manner, performance, presentation, elocution
Note
A performer's word, used when how something is said matters as much as what. Somerset Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence (1919) mentions a "vivacious delivery," and Nathan Rabin's 2012 review of The Simpsons episode "Mr. Plow" singles out a veteran actor's "purring, self-satisfied delivery."
- 5The item that has been brought or conveyed to its destination.
The driver left the delivery on the front porch.
Several deliveries were stacked in the warehouse entrance.
Similarconsignment, shipment
- 6In baseball or cricket, a ball thrown by the pitcher or bowled by the bowler, or the action or style of throwing it.
The batter swung hard at a delivery low in the strike zone.
A fast delivery clipped the outside corner for a strike.
Note
The word names the ball itself, and also the motion or style that sends it. A pitch is judged by its speed, location and type. It belongs to the voice of a game's narrator: here is the delivery, and the next words give the result, a swing or strike three. Because each pitch counts as one, a single outing piles up deliveries by the dozen.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Baseball pitches are assessed by speed, location and type. baseballsavant.mlb.com
- Pitches are counted individually, and an outing can involve dozens of pitches. en.wikipedia.org
- 7The act of administering a drug to a patient.
The pump allows steady delivery of insulin throughout the day.
Targeted delivery of the drug spares healthy tissue.
Similaradministration, dosing
Note
Medicine uses the word for how a drug reaches the body, not for who hands it over. Its home is the compound drug delivery system. The questions it raises are route, dose and rate: oral, intravenous, inhaled or transdermal, steady or targeted. Compare the genetic sense, where the cargo is foreign DNA bound for host cells.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Drug delivery can use oral, intravenous, inhaled or transdermal routes. nibib.nih.gov
- Drug delivery concerns dose and release rate, and can involve steady release or targeting. en.wikipedia.org
- Genetic delivery carries genetic material such as DNA or RNA. DNA can itself be therapeutic, so genetic delivery and medicine delivery are not mutually exclusive. fda.gov
Less common meanings
- 8A cross or pass of the ball to a teammate in soccer.
The winger's whipped delivery curled into the six-yard box.
Her low delivery across the goalmouth begged for a finish.
Note
Football writing uses the word to credit the ball played in, not the player who finishes it. Phil McNulty's BBC Sport report on England's 2–0 win over Germany in 2021 traces Harry Kane's headed goal to Jack Grealish's "perfect delivery." It usually means a cross from a wide position. Adjectives like whipped, low and perfect describe its flight and accuracy.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- McNulty’s 2021 BBC report credits Grealish’s “perfect delivery” for Kane’s header in England’s 2–0 victory. bbc.co.uk
- 9The act of throwing or sliding a stone down the ice in curling.
The skip studied each delivery for the right weight and curl.
His delivery came out too heavy and slid past the target.
Similarshot
Note
Curling's delivery is a whole action, not just the moment of release. The player pushes off from the hack, slides, sets the rotation at release and holds the line down the sheet. That is why a skip judges it for weight and curl together. A delivery can come out too heavy even when its aim is true.
- 10The introduction of foreign DNA into host cells.
Practice
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Origin
Old French delivrer reached Middle English by way of Anglo-Norman, giving deliveri and related forms.