Hypertext Webster Gateway: "instant"
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) 1.7 (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 (as the time it takes to blink once); "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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