Hypertext Webster Gateway: "now"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Now \Now\, adv. [OE. nou, nu, AS. n[=u], nu; akin to D., OS., &
OHG. nu, G. nu, nun, Icel., n[=u], Dan., Sw., & Goth. nu, L.
nunc, Gr. ?, ?, Skr. nu, n[=u]. [root]193. Cf. {New}.]
1. At the present time; at this moment; at the time of
speaking; instantly; as, I will write now.

I have a patient now living, at an advanced age, who
discharged blood from his lungs thirty years ago.
--Arbuthnot.

2. Very lately; not long ago.

They that but now, for honor and for plate, Made the
sea blush with blood, resign their hate. --Waller.

3. At a time contemporaneous with something spoken of or
contemplated; at a particular time referred to.

The ship was now in the midst of the sea. --Matt.
xiv. 24.

4. In present circumstances; things being as they are; --
hence, used as a connective particle, to introduce an
inference or an explanation.

How shall any man distinguish now betwixt a parasite
and a man of honor ? --L'Estrange.

Why should he live, now nature bankrupt is ? --Shak.

Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but
Barabbas. Now, Barabbas was a robber. --John xviii.
40.

The other great and undoing mischief which befalls
men is, by their being misrepresented. Now, by
calling evil good, a man is misrepresented to others
in the way of slander. --South.

{Now and again}, now and then; occasionally.

{Now and now}, again and again; repeatedly. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

{Now and then}, at one time and another; indefinitely;
occasionally; not often; at intervals. ``A mead here,
there a heath, and now and then a wood.'' --Drayton.

{Now now}, at this very instant; precisely now. [Obs.] ``Why,
even now now, at holding up of this finger, and before the
turning down of this.'' --J. Webster (1607).

{Now . . . now}, alternately; at one time . . . at another
time. ``Now high, now low, now master up, now miss.''
--Pope.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Now \Now\, a.
Existing at the present time; present. [R.] ``Our now
happiness.'' --Glanvill.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Now \Now\, n.
The present time or moment; the present.

Nothing is there to come, and nothing past; But an
eternal now does ever last. --Cowley.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

now
n : the momentary present; "Now is a good time to do it"; "it
worked up to right now"
adv 1: at the present moment; "goods now on sale"; "the now-aging
dictator"; "they are now abroad"; "he is busy at
present writing a new novel"; "it could happen any
time now" [syn: {at present}]
2: in these times; "it is solely by their language that the
upper classes nowadays are distinguished"- Nancy Mitford;
"we now rarely see horse-drawn vehicles on city streets";
"today almost every home has television" [syn: {nowadays},
{today}]
3: in the historical present; at this point in the narration of
a series of past events; "President Kennedy now calls in
the National Guard"; "Washington now decides to cross the
Delaware"; "the ship is now listing to port"
4: (prefatory or transitional) "Now the next problem is..."
5: used to preface a command or reproof or request; "now hear
this!"; "now pay attention"
6: without delay; with no time intervening; "he answered
immediately"; "found an answer straightaway"; "an official
accused of dishonesty should be suspended forthwith";
"Come here now!" [syn: {immediately}, {instantly}, {straightaway},
{straight off}, {directly}, {right away}, {at once}, {forthwith},
{in real time}]
7: in the immediate past; "told me just now"


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