The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 15 letter word PROCRASTINATION
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
P
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C
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More clues leading to the result PROCRASTINATION
- Proverbial thief running in a strip cartoon
- Deferral for Costa Rica Wine Society
- Leaderless Latin conspirator assassinated for proverbial thief
- It’s off-putting when one country goes after publicity on misplaced Croats
- Delay in airports at northern Colorado resolved
- Stalling to adjust pin on aristocrat
- 10 of 3 behind credit offered by wine society?
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Deferral" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case deferral = procrastination.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does PROCRASTINATION mean?
PROCRASTINATION noun- The act of postponing, delaying or putting off, especially habitually or intentionally.