These things have I spoken unto you, being yet
present with you. --John xiv.
25.
2. Now existing, or in process; begun but not ended; now in
view, or under consideration; being at this time; not past
or future; as, the present session of Congress; the
present state of affairs; the present instance.
I'll bring thee to the present business --Shak.
3. Not delayed; immediate; instant; coincident. ``A present
recompense.'' ``A present pardon.'' --Shak.
An ambassador . . . desires a present audience.
--Massinger.
4. Ready; quick in emergency; as a present wit. [R.]
5. Favorably attentive; propitious. [Archaic]
To find a god so present to my prayer. --Dryden.
{Present tense} (Gram.), the tense or form of a verb which
expresses action or being in the present time; as, I am
writing, I write, or I do write.
Past and present, wound in one. --Tennyson.
2. pl. (Law) Present letters or instrument, as a deed of
conveyance, a lease, letter of attorney, or other writing;
as in the phrase, `` Know all men by these presents,''
that is, by the writing itself, `` per has literas
praesentes; '' -- in this sense, rarely used in the
singular.
3. (Gram.) A present tense, or the form of the verb denoting
the present tense.
{At present}, at the present time; now.
{For the present}, for the tine being; temporarily.
{In present}, at once, without delay. [Obs.] ``With them, in
present, half his kingdom; the rest to follow at his
death.'' --Milton.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to
present themselves before the lord. --Job i. 6
2. To exhibit or offer to view or notice; to lay before one's
perception or cognizance; to set forth; to present a fine
appearance.
Lectorides's memory is ever . . . presenting him
with the thoughts of other persons. --I. Watts.
3. To pass over, esp. in a ceremonious manner; to give in
charge or possession; to deliver; to make over.
So ladies in romance assist their knight, Present
the spear, and arm him for the fight. --Pope.
4. To make a gift of; to bestow; to give, generally in a
formal or ceremonious manner; to grant; to confer.
My last, least offering, I present thee now.
--Cowper.
5. Hence: To endow; to bestow a gift upon; to favor, as with
a donation; also, to court by gifts.
Octavia presented the poet for him admirable elegy
on her son Marcellus. --Dryden.
6. To present; to personate. [Obs.] --Shak.
7. In specific uses;
(a) To nominate to an ecclesiastical benefice; to offer to
the bishop or ordinary as a candidate for institution.
The patron of a church may present his clerk to
a parsonage or vicarage; that is, may offer him
to the bishop of the diocese to be instituted.
--Blackstone.
(b) To nominate for support at a public school or other
institution . --Lamb.
(c) To lay before a public body, or an official, for
consideration, as before a legislature, a court of
judicature, a corporation, etc.; as, to present a
memorial, petition, remonstrance, or indictment.
(d) To lay before a court as an object of inquiry; to give
notice officially of, as a crime of offence; to find
or represent judicially; as, a grand jury present
certain offenses or nuisances, or whatever they think
to be public injuries.
(e) To bring an indictment against . [U.S]
(f) To aim, point, or direct, as a weapon; as, to present
a pistol or the point of a sword to the breast of
another.
{Pesent arms} (Mil.), the command in response to which the
gun is carried perpendicularly in front of the center of
the body, and held there with the left hand grasping it at
the lower band, and the right hand grasping the small of
the stock, in token of respect, as in saluting a superior
officer; also, the position taken at such a command.
Syn: Gift; donation; donative; benefaction. See {Gift}.