delay vs take a rain check

delay

verb
  • To put off until a later time; to defer. 

  • To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time. 

noun
  • A period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity. 

  • An audio effects unit that introduces a controlled delay. 

  • Synonym of promise (“object representing delayed result”) 

  • An amount of time provided on each move before one's clock starts to tick; a less common time control than increment. 

take a rain check

verb
  • In social interactions, to request a deferral of an invitation. To "take a rain check" is a polite way to turn down an engagement, usually with the implication that one is simply postponing it and another time might be acceptable. 

  • To request or accept a rain check (an agreement from a merchant to honor a special offer, temporarily unavailable, after the expiration date). 

How often have the words delay and take a rain check occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )