Meaning & use
deliver
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To carry goods, letters or messages to a person or place.
Grammar: Takes an object: deliver a parcel; also used without one: we deliver.
Patterns
- deliver something to someone
- deliver something to somewhere
The shop will deliver the sofa on Friday.
He delivers newspapers before school.
Do you deliver to my address?
verbtransitive
To give a speech, talk or message to an audience.
Grammar: Takes an object such as a speech: deliver a lecture.
Patterns
- deliver a speech
- deliver a message
The mayor delivered a short speech at the ceremony.
She delivered the news calmly.
He delivered a powerful lecture on climate change.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To do what was promised or expected, producing the results wanted.
Grammar: Often without an object: the team delivered; or with results: deliver results.
Patterns
- deliver on something
- deliver results
The new manager promised improvements and delivered.
The company failed to deliver on its promises.
The striker delivered two goals in the final.
verbtransitivemedical
To help a woman give birth, or to bring a baby into the world.
Grammar: Takes an object: deliver a baby.
Patterns
- deliver a baby
The midwife delivered the baby at dawn.
She delivered twins last spring.
The doctor delivered three babies that night.
Word forms
| third person singular | delivers |
|---|---|
| past tense | delivered |
| past participle | delivered |
| -ing form | delivering |
Common combinations
- deliver a package
- The courier delivered a package to my door.
- deliver a speech
- She will deliver a speech at graduation.
- deliver on a promise
- The mayor failed to deliver on his promises.
- deliver results
- The new system delivers excellent results.
- deliver a baby
- The nurse helped deliver a healthy baby.
- deliver a verdict
- The jury will deliver its verdict tomorrow.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bring
- Bring is informal and need not be a formal service, while deliver suggests an arranged handover.
- hand over
- Hand over stresses passing something directly to a person, while deliver includes transport.
- give
- Give is more general, whereas deliver is used for speeches, news and parcels.
- produce
- Produce means to make something, whereas deliver implies meeting an expectation.
Opposites
Word family
- delivery noun
- the act of delivering
- deliverer noun
- a person who delivers
- deliverable noun
- something that must be produced for a client
- undelivered adjective
- not yet brought to the recipient
- deliverance noun
- rescue from danger
Commonly confused: deliver or deliberate?
deliver vs deliberate
Deliberate means done on purpose, while deliver means to bring or give something.
Practice
The manager promised faster service, but the team failed to ___ on that promise.
Choose one answer.
Deliver on a promise is the fixed pattern for fulfilling it. Produce, collect and receive do not take on in that sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “deliver”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.