time lag

plural time lags · alternative time-lag

1. A period of time between one event and another; a delay.

   Owing to the time lag which must occur between the dates of closing for press and publication, it sometimes happens that items of news are out of date, or inaccurate, by the time they reach readers.

   1947 January and February, “Notes and News: Steamer Services on the Clyde”, in Railway Magazine, page 50

   1 more example

   The communicating doors of adjoining vehicles are opened simultaneously by pressing a large push-button located a suitable height for a man loaded with mailbags to contact it with his shoulder; after a time-lag of seven seconds the doors close automatically.

   1959 December, “New TPOs for the Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 581