From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
instant
adj 1: occurring with no delay; "relief was instantaneous";
"instant gratification" [syn: instantaneous,
{instant(a)}]
2: in or of the present month; "your letter of the 10th inst"
[syn: inst]
3: demanding attention; "clamant needs"; "a crying need";
"regarded literary questions as exigent and momentous"-
H.L.Mencken; "insistent hunger"; "an instant need" [syn:
clamant, crying, exigent, insistent]
n 1: a very short time (as the time it takes the eye blink or the
heart to beat); "if I had the chance I'd do it in a
flash" [syn: blink of an eye, flash, heartbeat,
jiffy, split second, trice, twinkling, wink,
New York minute]
2: a particular point in time; "the moment he arrived the party
began" [syn: moment, minute, second]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Instant \In"stant\, n. [F. instant, fr. L. instans standing by,
being near, present. See Instant, a.]
[1913 Webster]
1. A point in time; a moment; a portion of time too short to
be estimated; also, any particular moment; as, teh
situation may change in an instant.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
There is scarce an instant between their flourishing
and their not being. --Hooker.
[1913 Webster]
2. 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.
Syn: Moment; flash; second.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Instant \In"stant\, a. [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.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Pressing; urgent; importunate; earnest.
[1913 Webster]
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation;
continuing instant in prayer. --Rom. xii.
12.
[1913 Webster]
I am beginning to be very instant for some sort of
occupation. --Carlyle.
[1913 Webster]
2. Closely pressing or impending in respect to time; not
deferred; immediate; without delay.
[1913 Webster]
Impending death is thine, and instant doom. --Prior.
[1913 Webster]
3. Present; current.
[1913 Webster]
The instant time is always the fittest time.
--Fuller.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The word in this sense is now used only in dates, to
indicate the current month; as, the tenth of July
instant.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Instant \In"stant\, adv.
Instantly. [Poetic]
[1913 Webster]
Instant he flew with hospitable haste. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]