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/ˈɪnstənt/ Listen

adjective

Instant adj.

Pressing; urgent; importunate; earnest. "Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer." "I am beginning to be very instant for some sort of occupation."

Closely pressing or impending in respect to time; not deferred; immediate; without delay. "Impending death is thine, and instant doom."

Present; current. "The instant time is always the fittest time." Note: The word in this sense is now used only in dates, to indicate the current month; as, the tenth of July instant.

noun

Instant n.

A point in time; a moment; a portion of time too short to be estimated; also, any particular moment; as, teh situation may change in an instant. "There is scarce an instant between their flourishing and their not being."

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.

Synonyms: Moment; flash; second.

adverb

Instant adv. Instantly. (Poetic) "Instant he flew with hospitable haste."

See images of 'Instant'

Etymology of 'Instant'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Instant" Quotes from Famous Books

... time the monkey intended to pull the tortoise's head, when just as he came within reach, the tortoise snapped him, held him in his claws, and as the monkey pendulum swung back he lost his hold. In an instant he was jerked loose, and fell head-foremost to ...

— Japanese Fairy World - Stories from the Wonder-Lore of Japan • William Elliot Griffis

... lurched to one side, and the head-piece fell away, so true to life that an involuntary shudder went through the group, as though the act had really been accomplished. The flaunting head-piece of eagle feathers fell indeed away, clutched in the hand of Little Tim. And, at the same instant, by some loosening of the cloth, that, too, dropped down, freeing the ...

— The Rival Campers Ashore - The Mystery of the Mill • Ruel Perley Smith

... though in a careless way, As if she rated such accomplishment As the mere pastime of an idle day, Pursued an instant for her own content, Would now and then as 't were without display, Yet with display in fact, at times relent To such performances with haughty smile, To show she could, if it ...

— Don Juan • Lord Byron

... For an instant he was at a loss to decide whether to accede, or to make an excuse and leave the house. Wisdom seemed to point to flight. But when he glanced at her he saw to his surprise that the mood of abstraction into which she had fallen still held her; that the discussion which had aroused Eldon Parr ...

— The Crossing • Winston Churchill

... and drive to the Place de la Bourse was the affair of an instant; still, twenty minutes had elapsed since the curtain fell, and that was an enormous time. My son Emile and I proceeded up the actors' stairs at full speed, but on the first step we had heard the cries, whistling, and ...

— The Lock and Key Library/Real Life #2 • Julian Hawthorne

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