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more about instant
instant |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Instant \In"stant\, adv Instantly. [Poetic] Instant he flew with hospitable haste. --Pope. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Instant \In"stant\, n. [F. instant, fr L. instans standing by being near present. See {Instant}, a.] 1. A point in duration; a moment; a portion of time too short to be estimated; also any particular moment. There is scarce an instant between their flourishing and their not being --Hooker. 2. A day of the present or current month; as the sixth instant; -- an elliptical expression equivalent to the sixth of the month instant, i. e., the current month. See {Instant}, a., 3. Syn: Moment; flash; second From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Instant \In"stant\, a. [L. instans, -antis, p. pr of instare to stand upon to press upon pref. in- in on + stare to stand: cf F. in?tant. See {Stand}.] 1. Pressing; urgent; importunate; earnest. Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer. --Rom. xii. 12. I am beginning to be very instant for some sort of occupation. --Carlyle. 2. Closely pressing or impending in respect to time; not deferred; immediate; without delay. Impending death is thine, and instant doom. --Prior. 3. Present; current. The instant time is always the fittest time. --Fuller. Note: The word in this sense is now used only in dates, to indicate the current month; as the tenth of July instant. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: instant adj 1: occurring with no delay; "relief was instantaneous"; "instant gratification" [syn: {instantaneous}, {instant(a)}] 2: in or of the present month; "your letter of the 10th inst" [syn: {inst}] 3: demanding attention; "clamant needs"; "a crying need"; "regarded literary questions as exigent and momentous"- H.L.Mencken; "insistent hunger"; "an instant need" [syn: {clamant}, {crying}, {exigent}, {insistent}] n 1: a very short time; "if I had the chance I'd do it in a flash" [syn: {blink of an eye}, {flash}, {jiffy}, {split second}, {trice}, {twinkling}, {wink}, {New York minute}] 2: a particular point in time; "the moment he arrived the party began" [syn: {moment}, {minute}, {second}]
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