moment
Americannoun
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an indefinitely short period of time; instant.
I'll be with you in a moment.
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Usually the moment the present time or any other particular time.
He is busy at the moment.
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a definite period or stage, as in a course of events; juncture.
at this moment in history.
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importance or consequence.
a decision of great moment.
- Synonyms:
- momentousness, magnitude, weight, significance
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a particular time or period of success, excellence, fame, etc..
His big moment came in the final game.
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Statistics. the mean or expected value of the product formed by multiplying together a set of one or more variates or variables each to a specified power.
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Philosophy.
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an aspect of a thing.
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Obsolete. an essential or constituent factor.
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Mechanics.
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a tendency to produce motion, especially about an axis.
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the product of a physical quantity and its directed distance from an axis.
moment of area; moment of mass.
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noun
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a short indefinite period of time
he'll be here in a moment
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a specific instant or point in time
at that moment the doorbell rang
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the present point of time
at the moment it's fine
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import, significance, or value
a man of moment
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physics
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a tendency to produce motion, esp rotation about a point or axis
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the product of a physical quantity, such as force or mass, and its distance from a fixed reference point See also moment of inertia
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statistics the mean of a specified power of the deviations of all the values of a variable in its frequency distribution. The power of the deviations indicates the order of the moment and the deviations may be from the origin (giving a moment about the origin ) or from the mean (giving a moment about the mean )
Related Words
See minute 1. See importance.
Etymology
Origin of moment
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, Middle French, from Latin mōmentum “motion, cause of motion,” hence, “influence, importance, essential factor, moment of time,” from movimentum (unattested), equivalent to mō- (variant stem of the verb movēre move ) + -mentum -ment
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Don Lemon detailed the moments surrounding his incarceration and his experience as a journalist becoming the center of a news story.
From Los Angeles Times
“He shows up in big moments. He’s super mentally tough.”
From Los Angeles Times
Prime Video documentary Life After Little Mix gives a candid insight into Jesy's pregnancy journey, and includes the emotional moment when she first learns her daughters have Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome.
From BBC
He adds that it is about the moments where we lose ourselves and become stuck in a situation we can't control.
From BBC
One of the night’s funniest moments came when Bobby Brown joked, “Yeah, it’s me — the crazy one,” before singing “Every Little Step.”
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
