nonce
Americannoun
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the present, or immediate, occasion or purpose (usually used in the phrasefor the nonce ).
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Computers. a randomly or automatically generated and often timestamped number intended for a single use in a communication: used especially in authentication and security protocols.
adjective
noun
noun
Etymology
Origin of nonce
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English nones, in the phrase for the nones, by faulty division of for then ones “for the once” ( Middle English then, dative singular of the 1 ; ones once )
Vocabulary lists containing nonce
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.
If the hash doesn’t start out as “aaaaa,” it would increase the nonce by one, and start again.
From The Verge • Sep. 9, 2021
When a mining node wants to create a block, it would take all the data in the block, plus a special number called a nonce, and run it through the hashing algorithm.
From The Verge • Sep. 9, 2021
A lapse into depression, for the nonce, was averted.
From Salon • Jun. 30, 2010
France was willing to stop talking about the Austro-German customs union and pocket battleships, for the nonce.
From Time Magazine Archive
“I still shall hear of this battle,” said he, pointing a finger at me, “but for the nonce, tune yourself.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
