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instant Definition

in·stant (in′stənt)

adjective

  1. urgent; pressing
  2. soon to happen; imminent
  3. without delay; immediate to demand instant obedience
  4. designating a food or beverage in readily soluble, concentrated, or precooked form, that can be prepared quickly, as by adding water
  5. Archaic present; current

Etymology: LME < MFr < L instans, prp. of instare, to stand upon or near, press < in-, in, upon + stare, to stand

adverb

  1. Old Poet. at once; instantly
  2. Old-fashioned (in the) present (month) yours of the 13th (day) instant received

noun

  1. a point or very short space of time; moment
  2. a particular moment

instant Idioms

on the instant

without delay

the instant

as soon as

instant Synonyms

instant

modif.

immediate, prompt, instantaneous, on-the-spot, ready-to-use, ready-to-eat, ready-to-serve, premixed, precooked; see also immediate 1, prepared 2, 3.

instant Synonyms

instant

n.

moment, second, short while, flash, trice, split second, twinkling, wink of an eye, jiffy*, shake*, two shakes of a lamb's tail*, jiff*, sec*; see also moment 1.

on the instant

instantly, without delay, simultaneously; see immediately.

instant Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • hesitate: If he had hesitated an instant at the water's edge it would have been nothing.
  • continue: Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; 12.
  • lose: Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to this poor creature.
  • give: In other words, at any given instant, only a single dot is actually visible on the screen.

Adjective modifier

  • brief: For a brief instant his expression darkened, and he suddenly looked very old.
  • same: I saw a lone woman walking in the wind and at the same instant so did Finn.
  • single: A witness described him as ' a man made entirely for God, unable to remain a single instant without God ' .
  • particular: Suppose you had a single hydrogen atom and at a particular instant plotted the position of the one electron.
  • popular: Messenger is a popular instant messaging client and protocol provided by Yahoo!

Modifies a noun

  • gratification: He lives for the moment rather than in the moment, pursuing instant gratification without thinking of how his actions may affect others.
  • messenger: If you wish to argue with people then go to instant messenger or email.
  • confirmation: Booking information is sent directly to the taxi firm, who can then send instant confirmation.
  • quote: Gatwick Silver Lady Parking Services To get an instant quote for Gatwick Silver Lady Parking Services parking, please click here.
  • replay: CNN: " Wow, can we get that explosion on instant replay?
  • feedback: With written communication, you do not get that instant feedback.

Modifying Another Word

almost: The first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in June 1997 to almost instant success.

Noun used with modifier

  • sampling: The numbers stored correspond to the amplitudes of the waveform at the sampling instants indicated by the black vertical lines.
  • auto: Wind of auto instant insurance online the true underlying differences.

Preposition: in

  • prayer: Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; 12.
  • season: Be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.