instant

noun

1. A very short period of time; a moment.

   “She paused for only an instant, which was just enough time for John to change the subject.”

   “Thy life is long, Eternity is short. So short that, shouldst thou die and Eternity should pass, and after the passing of Eternity thou shouldst live again, thou wouldst say: ‘I closed mine eyes but for an instant.’”

   “"On receiving the baton, steam was again turned on, and the train passed on to the bridge... when the train had got about 200 yards from the cabin [in the signal box], he observed sparks flying from the wheels; and after they had continued about three minutes, there was a sudden bright flash of light, and in an instant there was total darkness, the tail lamps of the train, the sparks, and flash of light, all, he said disappearing at the same instant."”

2. A single, usually precise, point in time.

   “The instant the alarm went off, he fled the building.”

3. A beverage or food which has been pre-processed to reduce preparation time, especially instant coffee.
4. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis)Ellipsis of instant camera.

adj

1. (dated, not-comparable)Impending; imminent.

   “Impending death is thine, and instant doom.”

2. (dated, not-comparable)Urgent; pressing; acute.
3. (dated, not-comparable)Insistent; persistent.

   “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.”

   “January 2, 1827, Thomas Carlyle, letter to Mrs. Carlyle, Scotsbrig I am beginning to be very instant for some sort of occupation.”

4. (not-comparable)Present; current; extant.

   “He received just two disciplinary reports prior to committing the instant offense, one in March 2019 for activating an alarm during a non-emergency situation, and one in May 2019 for failing to provide a urine specimen.”

5. (not-comparable)Occurring immediately; immediate; present.

   “I ſee no day to To day, the inſtant Time is alvvayes the fitteſt time.”

   “No one, however, would have anything to do with him, as Mr. Keeson's orders in those respects were very strict; he had often threatened any one of his employés with instant dismissal if he found him in company with one of these touts.”

   “Gone are all the days of instant romance / And the nights of slow goodbyes / It was a time of life when foxy was the dance / And then you got wise to all of my abilis”

   “As the body count rose, Tarrant quickly became a hero who had achieved a “new high score,” surpassing the former record holder Seung-Hui Cho of Virginia Tech. Tarrant attained instant cult status in the community.”

6. (not-comparable)Lasting for a short moment; momentary; short-lived.
7. (not-comparable)Very quickly and easily prepared.

   “instant coffee; instant noodles; instant mashed potato; instant photo”

8. (dated, not-comparable)Of the current month.

   “I refer to your letter of the 16th instant in regard to traffic disruption.”

   “Vice-Admiral Kamimura reports that at dawn of the 14th instant, our squadron found, off Ulsan, the south-eastern coast of Corea, three ships of the Vladivostock squadron steaming southward.”

   “I have maturely reflected on the subject of your letter of the 18th instant; and the more I have reflected the more I have become convinced, that I could not, without manifest impropriety, make the avowal or disavowal which you seem to think necessary.”

adv

1. (not-comparable, poetic)At once; immediately.

   “He left the room for his relinquished sword, / And Julia instant to the closet flew.”

verb

1. (obsolete, transitive)To urge, press (someone); to insist on, demand (something).