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minute1

Syllabification: (mi·nute)
Pronunciation: /ˈminit/

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Definition of minute

noun

  • 1a period of time equal to sixty seconds or a sixtieth of an hour:he stood in the shower for twenty minutes in ten minutes' time he could be on his way
  • the distance covered in sixty seconds by someone driving or walking:the hotel is situated just ten minutes from the center of the resort
  • informal a very short time:come and sit down for a minute
  • an instant or a point of time:she had been laughing one minute and crying the next
  • 2 (also arc minute or minute of arc) a sixtieth of a degree of angular measurement (symbol: ʹ).

Phrases

any minute (or at any minute)

very soon.

by the minute

(especially of the progress of a change) very rapidly:matters grew worse by the minute

just (or wait) a minute

  • 1used as a request to delay an action, departure, or decision for a short time, usually to allow the speaker to do something:wait a minute—I have to put my makeup on
  • 2as a prelude to a challenge, query, or objection:just a minute—where do you think you’re going?

the minute (or the minute that)

as soon as:let me know the minute he returns

not for a minute

not at all:don’t think for a minute that our pricing has affected our quality standards

this minute (or this very minute)

informal at once; immediately:pull yourself together this minute

Origin:

late Middle English: via Old French from late Latin minuta, feminine (used as a noun) of minutus 'made small'. The senses 'period of sixty seconds' and 'sixtieth of a degree' derive from medieval Latin pars minuta prima 'first minute part'

minute in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of minute in the British & World English dictionary

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