Instant
['ɪnst(ə)nt] or ['ɪnstənt]
Definition
(adj.) in or of the present month; 'your letter of the 10th inst' .
Edited by Bridget--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Pressing; urgent; importunate; earnest.
(a.) Closely pressing or impending in respect to time; not deferred; immediate; without delay.
(a.) Present; current.
(adv.) Instantly.
(a.) A point in duration; a moment; a portion of time too short to be estimated; also, any particular moment.
(a.) 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.
Inputed by Estella
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Pressing, urgent, importunate, earnest.[2]. Immediate, quick, instantaneous.[3]. Current, present, now passing.
n. [1]. Moment, second, twinkling, flash, trice, jiffy, twinkling of an eye, smallest conceivable point of time.[2]. Present month, current month.
Typed by Clarissa
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Moment, second, minute, twinkling, trice, flash
ANT:Period, duration, cycle, time, permanence, perpetuity, eternity
Edited by Eileen
Definition
adj. pressing urgent: immediate: quick: without delay: present current as the passing month.—n. the present moment of time: any moment or point of time.—n. Instantanē′ity.—adj. Instantān′eous done in an instant: momentary: occurring or acting at once: very quickly.—adv. Instantān′eously.—n. Instantān′eousness.—advs. Instan′ter immediately; In′stantly on the instant or moment: immediately: (Shak.) at the same time: (B.) importunately zealously.
Checker: Newman
Examples
- We did not go very far along the road, for Holmes stopped the instant that the curve hid us from the landlord's view. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Yes, but I can't dismiss him in an instant without assigning reasons, my dear Chettam. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I will be at your service in an instant, Watson. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- He gazed stupidly about him for an instant, and obeyed. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Get out, sir, this instant. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Delay an instant: lean on me, Jane. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- An instant later the mystery was explained. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- The next instant I threw myself through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The movement of troops from the Army of the James will commence on the night of the 27th instant. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- That instant the new horse kicked, and started to run once more. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- At the same instant an empty dog-cart, the horse cantering, the reins trailing, appeared round the curve of the road and rattled swiftly towards us. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- For an instant she sat up, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes blazing from under the terrible mark upon her brow. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Next instant, with a loud shout of triumph he held up one splinter, in which a round, dark object was fixed like a plum in a pudding. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- The instant my eyes rested on her, I was struck by the rare beauty of her form, and by the unaffected grace of her attitude. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Then, feebly leaning on her arms for an instant to steady herself, Margaret gathered herself up, and rose. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- But her temper was fluctuating; joy for a few instants shone in her eyes, but it continually gave place to distraction and reverie. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- When he opened the latter again a few instants afterward the card had disappeared, or rather had become transformed. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- Before going on her walk again the young girl stood still on the bank for a few instants and listened. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
Checked by Adelaide