now /ˈnaʊ/
(ad.)現在,剛纔,目前現在(a.)現在的(conj.)由於
Now adv.
1. At the present time; at this moment; at the time of speaking; instantly; as, I will write now.
I have a patient now living, at an advanced age, who discharged blood from his lungs thirty years ago. --Arbuthnot.
2. Very lately; not long ago.
They that but now, for honor and for plate,
Made the sea blush with blood, resign their hate. --Waller.
3. At a time contemporaneous with something spoken of or contemplated; at a particular time referred to.
The ship was now in the midst of the sea. --Matt. xiv. 24.
4. In present circumstances; things being as they are; -- hence, used as a connective particle, to introduce an inference or an explanation.
How shall any man distinguish now betwixt a parasite and a man of honor? --L'Estrange.
Why should he live, now nature bankrupt is? --Shak.
Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now, Barabbas was a robber. --John xviii. 40.
The other great and undoing mischief which befalls men is, by their being misrepresented. Now, by calling evil good, a man is misrepresented to others in the way of slander. --South.
Now and again, now and then; occasionally.
Now and now, again and again; repeatedly. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Now and then, at one time and another; indefinitely; occasionally; not often; at intervals. “A mead here, there a heath, and now and then a wood.” --Drayton.
Now now, at this very instant; precisely now. [Obs.] “Why, even now now, at holding up of this finger, and before the turning down of this.” --J. Webster (1607).
Now . . . now, alternately; at one time . . . at another time. “Now high, now low, now master up, now miss.” --Pope.
Now, a. Existing at the present time; present. [R.] “Our now happiness.”
Now, n. The present time or moment; the present.
Nothing is there to come, and nothing past;
But an eternal now does ever last. --Cowley.
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now
n : the momentary present; "Now is a good time to do it"; "it
worked up to right now"
adv 1: at the present moment; "goods now on sale"; "the now-aging
dictator"; "they are now abroad"; "he is busy at
present writing a new novel"; "it could happen any
time now" [syn: at present]
2: in these times; "it is solely by their language that the
upper classes nowadays are distinguished"- Nancy Mitford;
"we now rarely see horse-drawn vehicles on city streets";
"today almost every home has television" [syn: nowadays,
today]
3: in the historical present; at this point in the narration of
a series of past events; "President Kennedy now calls in
the National Guard"; "Washington now decides to cross the
Delaware"; "the ship is now listing to port"
4: (prefatory or transitional) indicates a change of subject or
activity; "Now the next problem is..."
5: used to preface a command or reproof or request; "now hear
this!"; "now pay attention"
6: without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening; "he
answered immediately"; "found an answer straightaway"; "an
official accused of dishonesty should be suspended
forthwith"; "Come here now!" [syn: immediately, instantly,
straightaway, straight off, directly, right away,
at once, forthwith, in real time, like a shot]
7: in the immediate past; "told me just now"