bought time
Created breathing room
Bought time is the past tense of buy time—to delay an outcome in order to gain more opportunity to act.
The phrase implies that time, like a commodity, can be purchased through strategic action: The ceasefire bought time for negotiations.
I made small talk to buy time while I figured out what to say.
- buyObtain through payment
- delayEnforced waiting period
- postponementDelaying to later
- pauseTemporary cessation of activity
- holding patternCircular flight awaiting clearance
stall tactics · reprieve · grace period · compromise · stalling · delaying action · legal appeals · deferral · last-ditch · hail mary · last resort · eleventh hour · extension · relief · concession · stopgap · temporary fix · debt restructuring
temporal urgency
bought timeaccelerated
Increased in velocity
hastened · fast-tracked · rushed · expedited · precipitated
bought, time, buying, buyer, buyers, buyout, buyouts, times, timed