What does Instant mean?

Definitions for Instant
ˈɪn stəntin·stant

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Instant.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. blink of an eye, flash, heartbeat, instant, jiffy, split second, trice, twinkling, wink, New York minutenoun

    a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat)

    "if I had the chance I'd do it in a flash"

  2. moment, minute, second, instantadjective

    a particular point in time

    "the moment he arrived the party began"

  3. instantaneous, instant(a)adjective

    occurring with no delay

    "relief was instantaneous"; "instant gratification"

  4. instant, instadjective

    in or of the present month

    "your letter of the 10th inst"

  5. clamant, crying, exigent, insistent, instantadjective

    demanding attention

    "clamant needs"; "a crying need"; "regarded literary questions as exigent and momentous"- H.L.Mencken; "insistent hunger"; "an instant need"

GCIDE

  1. Instantnoun

    A point in time; a moment; a portion of time too short to be estimated; also, any particular moment; as, the situation may change in an instant.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. INSTANTadjective

    Etymology: instant, Fr. instans, Latin.

    And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. Luke xxiii. 23.

    Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer. Rom. xii. 12.

    Our good old friend bestow
    Your needful counsel to our businesses,
    Which crave the instant use. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

    Th' instant stroke of death denounc'd to day,
    Remov'd far off. John Milton.

    Nor native country thou, nor friend shalt see;
    Nor war hast thou to wage, nor year to come;
    Impending death is thine, and instant doom. Matthew Prior.

    Instant without disturb they took alarm. John Milton.

    Griev'd that a visitant so long should wait
    Unmark'd, unhonour'd, at a monarch's gate;
    Instant he flew with hospitable haste,
    And the new friend with courteous air embrac'd. Alexander Pope.

  2. Instantnoun

    1.Instant is such a part of duration wherein we perceive no succession. John Locke

    Etymology: instant, French.

    There is scarce an instant between their flourishing and their not being. Richard Hooker, b. v.

    I can at any unseasonable instant of the night appoint her to look out at her lady's chamber window. William Shakespeare.

    Her nimble body yet in time must move,
    And not in instants through all places stride;
    But she is nigh and far, beneath, above,
    In point of time, which thought cannot divide. Davies.

    At any instant of time the moving atom is but in one single point of the line; therefore all but that one point is either future or past, and no other parts are co-existent or contemporary with it. Richard Bentley, Sermons.

    On the twentieth instant it is my intention to erect a lion's head. Joseph Addison, Guard. №. 98.

ChatGPT

  1. instant

    An instant is a very brief moment or point in time. It refers to an exact and precise moment or period that is occurring or has already happened. In physics, "instant" can also refer to an infinitesimally small unit of time.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Instantadjective

    pressing; urgent; importunate; earnest

  2. Instantadjective

    closely pressing or impending in respect to time; not deferred; immediate; without delay

  3. Instantadjective

    present; current

  4. Instantadverb

    instantly

  5. Instantadjective

    a point in duration; a moment; a portion of time too short to be estimated; also, any particular moment

  6. Instantadjective

    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

  7. Etymology: [L. instans, -antis, p. pr. of instare to stand upon, to press upon; pref. in- in, on + stare to stand: cf. F. instant. See Stand.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Instant

    in′stant, 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. [L. instans, -antis, pr.p. of instārein, upon, stāre, to stand.]

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Instant' in Adjectives Frequency: #925

How to pronounce Instant?

How to say Instant in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Instant in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Instant in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of Instant in a Sentence

  1. Mike DelPrete:

    If Zillow is able to count each of those people as a customer, they'll win, and for those people, some of them want an instant sale, some are kicking the tires, some want to sell the traditional way. It's like going to their kitchen table and saying,' What do you want ? To list your house, do an instant offer, get a broker ? It's empowering consumers.

  2. Marc Wilkins:

    When I sit down with a baseball player, major or minor, they usually know about my background. It offers instant credibility.

  3. Donald Trump:

    So we had the most secure border we've ever had… And then it's all gone in one instant. At first, I thought it was gross incompetence, but now it's incompetent policy. They really want to have an open border.

  4. Meryl Streep:

    Instant gratification is not soon enough.

  5. The Justice Department:

    Plaintiffs asserted that the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Checks System (NICS) failed to timely discover that the shooter was a person prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm, plaintiffs alleged that because of this delay, the shooter was able to purchase the handgun that he used to commit the atrocity.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

Instant#1#2783#10000

Translations for Instant

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • لَحْظةArabic
  • moment, instantní, okamžikCzech
  • øjeblikDanish
  • dieses Monats, dringend, Moment, fertig-, augenblicklich, vorübergehend, Augenblick, instant, bevorstehend, momentan, hujusGerman
  • στιγμήGreek
  • momentoEsperanto
  • instante, momentoSpanish
  • pika-, [[tämän]] [[kuun]], pikaruoka, hetkellinen, hetki, pikakahvi, välitön, kiireellinenFinnish
  • instantané, instantFrench
  • mòmaid, grad, priobadhScottish Gaelic
  • רגעHebrew
  • pillanatHungarian
  • attimo, istante, immediatoItalian
  • 瞬時の, 急ぎの, インスタント, 差し迫った, 即席の, 即席, 今月, 緊急の, インスタントの, 火急の, 切迫した, 瞬間, その場で決めたJapanese
  • moment, ogenblikkelijk, ogenblik, kant-en-klaar, dringend, poosje, onmiddelijk, kortstondigDutch
  • instantâneo, instante, instantâneaPortuguese
  • instantRomanian
  • мгнове́ние, моме́нт, предстоя́щий, безотлага́тельный, сро́чный, настоя́тельный, раствори́мый, неме́дленный, теку́щийRussian
  • omedelbar, ögonblick, ögonblickligSwedish
  • sasaSwahili
  • உடனடிTamil
  • an, hazırTurkish
  • فوریUrdu

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"Instant." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Instant>.

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