Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Present   /prˈɛzənt/  /prizˈɛnt/  /pərzˈɛnt/   Listen
adjective
Present  adj.  
1.
Being at hand, within reach or call, within certain contemplated limits; opposed to absent. "These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you."
2.
Now existing, or in process; begun but not ended; now in view, or under consideration; being at this time; not past or future; as, the present session of Congress; the present state of affairs; the present instance. "I'll bring thee to the present business"
3.
Not delayed; immediate; instant; coincident. "A present recompense." "A present pardon." "An ambassador... desires a present audience."
4.
Ready; quick in emergency; as a present wit. (R.)
5.
Favorably attentive; propitious. (Archaic) "To find a god so present to my prayer."
Present tense (Gram.), the tense or form of a verb which expresses action or being in the present time; as, I am writing, I write, or I do write.



noun
Present  n.  
1.
Present time; the time being; time in progress now, or at the moment contemplated; as, at this present. "Past and present, wound in one."
2.
pl. (Law) Present letters or instrument, as a deed of conveyance, a lease, letter of attorney, or other writing; as in the phrase, " Know all men by these presents," that is, by the writing itself, " per has literas praesentes; " in this sense, rarely used in the singular.
3.
(Gram.) A present tense, or the form of the verb denoting the present tense.
At present, at the present time; now.
For the present, for the tine being; temporarily.
In present, at once, without delay. (Obs.) "With them, in present, half his kingdom; the rest to follow at his death."



Present  n.  Anything presented or given; a gift; a donative; as, a Christmas present.
Synonyms: Gift; donation; donative; benefaction. See Gift.



Present  n.  (Mil.) The position of a soldier in presenting arms; as, to stand at present.



verb
Present  v. t.  (past & past part. presented; pres. part. presenting)  
1.
To bring or introduce into the presence of some one, especially of a superior; to introduce formally; to offer for acquaintance; as, to present an envoy to the king; (with the reciprocal pronoun) to come into the presence of a superior. "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the lord."
2.
To exhibit or offer to view or notice; to lay before one's perception or cognizance; to set forth; to present a fine appearance. "Lectorides's memory is ever... presenting him with the thoughts of other persons."
3.
To pass over, esp. in a ceremonious manner; to give in charge or possession; to deliver; to make over. "So ladies in romance assist their knight, Present the spear, and arm him for the fight."
4.
To make a gift of; to bestow; to give, generally in a formal or ceremonious manner; to grant; to confer. "My last, least offering, I present thee now."
5.
Hence: To endow; to bestow a gift upon; to favor, as with a donation; also, to court by gifts. "Octavia presented the poet for him admirable elegy on her son Marcellus."
6.
To present; to personate. (Obs.)
7.
In specific uses;
(a)
To nominate to an ecclesiastical benefice; to offer to the bishop or ordinary as a candidate for institution. "The patron of a church may present his clerk to a parsonage or vicarage; that is, may offer him to the bishop of the diocese to be instituted."
(b)
To nominate for support at a public school or other institution.
(c)
To lay before a public body, or an official, for consideration, as before a legislature, a court of judicature, a corporation, etc.; as, to present a memorial, petition, remonstrance, or indictment.
(d)
To lay before a court as an object of inquiry; to give notice officially of, as a crime of offence; to find or represent judicially; as, a grand jury present certain offenses or nuisances, or whatever they think to be public injuries.
(e)
To bring an indictment against. (U.S)
(f)
To aim, point, or direct, as a weapon; as, to present a pistol or the point of a sword to the breast of another.
Present arms (Mil.), the command in response to which the gun is carried perpendicularly in front of the center of the body, and held there with the left hand grasping it at the lower band, and the right hand grasping the small of the stock, in token of respect, as in saluting a superior officer; also, the position taken at such a command.



Present  v. i.  (Med.) To appear at the mouth of the uterus so as to be perceptible to the finger in vaginal examination; said of a part of an infant during labor.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar





"Present" Quotes from Famous Books



... the mode of constructing the native shipping of Ceylon existed in the remotest times, and is retained to the present day. The practice is closely connected with one of the most imaginative incidents in the medieval romances of the East Their boats and canoes, like those of the Arabs and other early navigators who crept along the shores of India, are put together without the ...
— Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and • James Emerson Tennent

... other fields. If you treat melon seeds as you are directed on page 135 to treat oat seeds, the germs on the seeds will be destroyed. By crossing the watermelon on the citron melon, a watermelon that is resistant to wilt has recently been developed and successfully grown in soils in which wilt is present. The new melon, inferior in flavor at first, is being improved from season to season and bids fair to ...
— Agriculture for Beginners - Revised Edition • Charles William Burkett

... the Council and Burgesses of the present General Assembly, being sensible to the great mischiefs and inconveniences that accrue to the inhabitants of this, his Majesty's Colony and Dominion of Virginia, by killing of whales within the capes ...
— The Bounty of the Chesapeake - Fishing in Colonial Virginia • James Wharton

... she knew nothing, and had not picked up any information as to what had happened before she came to the palace. As to the present, Lady Strickland's warning and her own sense of honour kept her reticent to a degree that evidently vexed the Princess, for she dropped her caressing manner, and sent her away with a not very kind, "You may go now; you will be turning Papist next, and what would ...
— A Reputed Changeling • Charlotte M. Yonge

... an expedition into England, conducted by Douglas and Randolph, and the hardiness of the Scottish soldiery surprised the English and warned them that it was impossible to prolong the contest in the present condition of the two countries. The regents for the young Edward III resolved to come to terms with Bruce. The treaty of Northampton, dated 17th March, 1327-28, is still preserved in Edinburgh. It acknowledged the complete independence of Scotland and the royal ...
— An Outline of the Relations between England and Scotland (500-1707) • Robert S. Rait


More quotes...



Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com