[jQuery] how to delay a event?

[jQuery] how to delay a event?


hi,
I have a small jQuery script, that get some data over the server on
every keypress by the user, but I don't to perform such action every
time when the user presses a key, specially if between key presses
happens in short amount of time. How do I delay this event?
Here is my script
$('input[@name=search_item]').keyup(function(e){
                if (e.target.value != ''){
                    $.get('/main/search_item/',
                        {search_item:e.target.value},
                        function(data){
                            $('div[@id=search_item_result]').html(data);
                        }
                    );
                }
            });
thanks
james