Was delayed by a cushion being out of use (6)
I believe the answer is:
paused
'was delayed' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'a cushion being out of use' is the wordplay.
'a cushion' becomes 'pad' (I've seen this before).
'being out of' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'pad' going around 'use' is 'PAUSED'.
'by' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for paused that I've seen before include "Stopped temporarily or hesitated" , "Waited a moment" , "Ceased temporarily" , "Hesitated, stopped briefly" .)