upon the instant
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English
Adverb
upon the instant (not comparable)
- (idiomatic, dated) Immediately, right away.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:immediately
- 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, , →OCLC, page 42:
- Light flashed up in the room upon the instant, and the curtains of his bed were drawn.
- 1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Doctor Lanyon’s Narrative”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 103:
- Or, if you shall so prefer to choose, a new province of knowledge and new avenues to fame and power shall be laid open to you, here, in this room, upon the instant; and your sight shall be blasted by a prodigy to stagger the unbelief of Satan.
- 1908, Howard Pyle, “The Terrific Encounter With the One-eyed Little Gentleman in Black”, in The Ruby of Kishmoor, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, page 34:
- "That ball!" he cried, in a hoarse and raucous voice. "That ivory ball! Give it to me upon the instant!"
References
- “instant, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
