detect if user hovers for period of time in jQuery

I'm using this animate jQuery code:

                $('.tabs').hover(
                    function(){
                        $('#tabs-wrap').animate({marginTop: '+=147'}, 500);
                        $('.tabs li a').delay(250).animate({height: '150'}, 500);
                    },
                    function(){
                        $('.tabs li a').animate({height: '40'}, 500);
                        $('#tabs-wrap').delay(250).animate({marginTop: '-=147'}, 500);
                    }
                );  

But is it possible to only start animating if the user has the mouse hovered for a certain amount of time (to stop the effect if the they just swipe the mouse of rather than intentionally activating it)

Thanks!

Check out the hoverIntent plugin, basically it uses setTimeout to invoke the function after x millseconds, the timeout is cancelled if they user mouse outs.