transcription, транскрипция: [ ɪnstənt ]
( instants)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
An instant is an extremely short period of time.
For an instant, Catherine was tempted to flee...
The pain disappeared in an instant.
= moment
N-COUNT : usu sing
2.
If you say that something happens at a particular instant , you mean that it happens at exactly the time you have been referring to, and you are usually suggesting that it happens quickly or immediately.
At that instant the museum was plunged into total darkness...
= moment
N-SING : with supp , usu at/in N
3.
To do something the instant something else happens means to do it immediately.
I had bolted the door the instant I had seen the bat.
PHRASE [ emphasis ]
4.
You use instant to describe something that happens immediately.
He had taken an instant dislike to Mortlake.
= immediate
ADJ : usu ADJ n
• in‧stant‧ly
The man was killed instantly...
ADV : ADV with v , ADV adj
5.
Instant food is food that you can prepare very quickly, for example by just adding water.
...instant coffee.
ADJ : ADJ n