diff --git a/lisp/emacs-lisp/timer.el b/lisp/emacs-lisp/timer.el
index 795554fec5..26c8426d3e 100644
--- a/lisp/emacs-lisp/timer.el
+++ b/lisp/emacs-lisp/timer.el
@@ -545,6 +545,22 @@ internal-timer-start-idle
   (dolist (timer timer-idle-list)
     (if (timerp timer) ;; FIXME: Why test?
         (setf (timer--triggered timer) nil))))
+
+
+(defmacro debounce (function secs)
+  "Postpone FUNCTION call until after SECS seconds have elapsed.
+Return a debounced function that will postpone FUNCTION call
+until after SECS seconds have elapsed since the last time
+it was invoked."
+  (declare (indent 0) (debug t))
+  (let ((timer-sym (make-symbol "timer")))
+    `(let (,timer-sym)
+       (lambda (&rest args)
+         (when (timerp ,timer-sym)
+           (cancel-timer ,timer-sym))
+         (setq ,timer-sym
+           (run-with-timer ,secs nil (lambda () (apply ,function args))))))))
+
 
 (provide 'timer)