- a short indefinite period of time: he'll be here in a moment
- a specific instant or point in time: at that moment the doorbell rang
- the moment ⇒ the present point of time: at the moment it's fine
- import, significance, or value: a man of moment
- a tendency to produce motion, esp rotation about a point or axis
- the product of a physical quantity, such as force or mass, and its distance from a fixed reference point
See also moment of inertia
- have a moment ⇒
- to experience a brief feeling of affinity
- to be currently fashionable or popular
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
mo•ment /ˈmoʊmənt/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- an indefinitely short period of time;
instant:[countable]Moments later, the thief vanished. - the particular time when something happens:[countable]The moment he began speaking, boos and catcalls filled the room.
- importance or consequence:[uncountable]a decision of great moment.
- at the moment, at the present moment:The boss is busy at the moment.
- have one's or its moments, to have a time or period of success, etc.:My job has its moments.
mo•ment
(mō′mənt),USA pronunciation n.
- an indefinitely short period of time;
instant:I'll be with you in a moment. - the present time or any other particular time (usually prec. by the):He is busy at the moment.
- a definite period or stage, as in a course of events;
juncture:at this moment in history. - importance or consequence:a decision of great moment.
- a particular time or period of success, excellence, fame, etc.:His big moment came in the final game.
- Statisticsthe 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.
- Philosophy
- an aspect of a thing.
- [Obs.]an essential or constituent factor.
- [Mech.]
- Mechanicsa tendency to produce motion, esp. about an axis.
- Mechanicsthe product of a physical quantity and its directed distance from an axis:moment of area; moment of mass.
- Latin mōmentum motion, cause of motion, hence, influence, importance, essential factor, moment of time, equivalent. to mō- (variant stem of movēre to move) + -mentum -ment
- Middle English 1300–50
- 1. second, jiffy, trice, flash, twinkling. See minute 1. 4. significance, weight, gravity. See importance.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
moment /ˈməʊmənt/ n
'moment' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
aha moment
- Alvarez
- arrive
- ascendant
- ATM
- awkward
- Bates
- capital stock
- carpe diem
- climax
- couple
- crack
- cringe
- crunch
- cue
- dipole moment
- dying
- electromagnetic
- electromagnetic moment
- epiphany
- eureka moment
- even
- far
- flashpoint
- forbidden
- gasp
- go
- heat
- horoscope
- hour
- hourly
- instant
- instantaneous
- iron
- just
- kinetic energy
- kurtosis
- last
- lightbulb moment
- magnetic dipole moment
- minute
- mo
- momentarily
- momentary
- moment of inertia
- moment of truth
- momentum
- nick
- now
- action painting