See Also: Moment(medicine)
moment(dictionary)
moment(dictionary)
magnetic moment(medicine)
overturning moment(medicine)
inertia, moment of(encyclopedia)
spur-of-the-moment(dictionary)
Moment of Inertia (Moi) - Golf(gambling)
product-moment correlation(medicine)

moment (iou)



moment noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French from Latin momentum (i) movement, moving power, (ii) importance, consequence, (iii) moment of time, particle, from movere MOVE verb: see -MENT.]
A very brief portion or period of time; a point in time, an instant. ME.
R. Hughes All woke at the same moment as if by clockwork. G. Vidal He returned, a moment later, breathless. L. Duncan The moment he heard his own voice..he felt like an idiot.
b. Usu. with the or possess.: the instant that is appropriate or decisive for something or someone; the fitting moment; the momentary conjunction of circumstances, esp. as affording an opportunity. L18.
A. Bullock His moment came in 1944. W. Trevor Until the moment's right for you to take over. J. Nagenda Lofty and romantic sentiments such as man and moment meeting. R. Ellmann The moment had come to issue a book of his poems.
c. A (brief) period of time marked by a particular quality of experience. E20.
G. B. Shaw Why do you select my most tragic moments for your most irresistible strokes of humour.
a. In medieval measurement of time, the tenth part of a point (see POINT noun1 2e), the fortieth or fiftieth part of an hour. obsolete exc. Hist. LME.
b. A second of time. Now only Scot. M17.
c. Geology. A period of geological time corresponding to a stratigraphical zone. M20.
A small particle, an infinitesimal amount; a detail. LME-M18.
Importance, weight. Now only in of moment, of great moment, of little moment, of some moment, etc. E16.
Jo Grimond A wheel flew off..but otherwise nothing of moment happened. A. Schlee There are so many things of more moment than how I feel.
A cause or motive of action; a determining influence or consideration. E17-M18.
Shakespeare Anthony & Cleopatra I have seen her die twenty times upon far poorer moment.
A definite stage, period, or turning-point in a course of events. (Now distinguished from sense 1.) M17.
C. Bigg Three great moments in that fateful process.
Physics etc.
a. Momentum. Only in E18.
b. Any of various functions describing torsional effects, generally having the form of the product of a force and a distance; spec. the turning effect produced by a force; the magnitude of this, equal to the product of the force and the perpendicular distance from its line of action to the point about which rotation may occur. M19.
J. S. Foster Equilibrium..is obtained when the..moments of some forces acting on a member are balanced. Forestry A turning moment of 1 Nm is produced by a force of 1 kg acting over a length of 1 m.
c. Statistics. Each of a series of quantities (first moment, second moment, etc.) that express the average or expected value of the first, second, etc., powers of the deviation of each component of a frequency distribution from some given value, usu. the mean or zero. L19.
An element of a complex conceptual entity. M19.
Phrases & comb.: at this moment in time: see TIME noun. DIPOLE moment. first moment: see sense 7c above. for a moment (a) pred. destined to last for only a moment; (b) adverbial phr. during a moment. for the moment (a) so far as the immediate future is concerned; (b) temporarily during the brief space referred to. have one's moments, have its moments be impressive, successful, happy, etc., on occasions. in the heat of the moment: see HEAT noun. last moment: see LAST adjective. live for the moment, live in the moment live without concern for the future. magnetic moment: see MAGNETIC adjective. moment-hand (obsolete exc. Scot.) the seconds hand of a watch etc. moment of inertia (of a body about an axis) the sum of the products of the mass of each particle of the body and the square of the distance of each particle from the axis. moment of truth [Spanish el momento de la verdad] the time of the final sword-thrust in a bullfight; a crisis, a turning-point; a testing situation. moment-to-moment adjective immediately and continually experienced, required, considered, etc. not for a moment, not for one moment emphatically not. of the moment of importance at the time in question. one moment ellipt. wait, listen, etc., for one moment. on the moment (now rare) immediately, instantly. on the spur of the moment: see SPUR noun1. psychological moment: see PSYCHOLOGICAL adjective. quadrupole moment: see QUADRUPOLE adjective. sacrament of the present moment: see SACRAMENT noun. second moment: see sense 7c above. the moment ellipt. at the moment when, as soon as ever. this moment (a) without a moment's delay, immediately; (b) just now, hardly a moment ago. to the moment with exact punctuality; for the exact time required. weak moment: see WEAK adjective.