instant

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♦ in|stant /'ɪnstənt/ (instants)
1 [N-COUNT] usu sing
An instant is an extremely short period of time.
For an instant, Catherine was tempted to flee...
The pain disappeared in an instant.
= moment
2 [N-SING] with supp, usu at/in N
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
3 [PHRASE]
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.
4 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
You use instant to describe something that happens immediately.
He had taken an instant dislike to Mortlake.
= immediate
● instantly [ADV] ADV with v, ADV adj
The man was killed instantly...
5 [ADJ] ADJ n
Instant food is food that you can prepare very quickly, for example by just adding water.
...instant coffee.in|stant re|play (instant replays)
[N-COUNT]
An instant replay is a repeated showing, usually in slow motion, of an event that has just been on television. (AM; in BRIT, use action replay)

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