delay vs protract

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. 

protract

verb
  • To put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer. 

  • To draw out; to extend, especially in duration. 

  • To draw to a scale; to lay down the lines and angles of, with scale and protractor; to plot. 

  • To extend; to protrude. 

  • To use a protractor. 

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