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Glite Dictionary
🚗 Slow cars 💻 Slow data
traffic delay

traffic delay

3.5
A time when data takes longer to travel across a computer network, causing lag
  • noun
  • /ˈtræfɪk dɪˈleɪ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : retraso en la transmisión
  • To reduce traffic delays, the ISP upgraded its backbone to increase throughput and lower packet queuing.

Examples

  • Network engineers measured a ten-millisecond traffic delay between the two data centers yesterday.

  • I experienced a traffic delay due to network congestion.

  • During peak hours, traffic delay caused noticeable latency in streaming services.

  • The increase in traffic delays affects data transmission.

  • The website experienced a traffic delay due to high user demand during the sale.

  • To address the traffic delay, the network engineer optimized the data routing protocols.

  • Frequent traffic delays can significantly affect the speed of data transfer in internet usage.

Synonyms

delay
vstraffic delay
434 1.3

A time when something happens later than planned

is specific to data transmission and caused by network issues
lag
vstraffic delay
46 4.1

A period of time when something happens later than expected

is slower system response that happens during data transmission
congestion
vstraffic delay
37 3.4

Too many people or vehicles in one place that slow movement

is the network transmission hold-up often caused by such overcrowding
latency
vstraffic delay
  • Specialized
11 6.8

Delay before a device or program responds

is a network transmission hold-up measured as higher waiting time

How Long

traffic delay
  • Specialized
3.5
latency
  • Specialized
11 6.8

Surface Forms

traffic delay singular
traffic delays plural

Morphology

traffic + delay

The phrase is compositionally built from 'traffic' (flow) + 'delay' (a hold-up), so its basic meaning—a delay affecting some flow—is directly inferable. However, the target sense is technical (network/data transmission latency) and depends on knowing that 'traffic' can mean digital/data flow; without that domain knowledge a B1 learner is likely to interpret it as a road-traffic hold-up. Therefore it is not fully transparent to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

The noun traffic delay for networks comes from imagining data as little cars on a road; traffic is the data moving and delay is the waiting time when many pieces of data line up and wait. So it means 'when data takes longer to travel'.