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At once; without delay; forthwith; also, less definitely, soon; shortly; before long; after a little while; by and by. Shak. And presently the fig tree withered away. Matt. xxi. 19.

rency or prevalence; to obtain; as, the practice prevails this day. This custom makes the short-sighted bigots, and the warier skeptics, as far as it prevails. Locke.

Consisting of four short syllables; composed of feet of four short syllables each.

Course; passage; lapse or process of time. I hope, in a short progression, you will be wholly immerged in the delices and joys of religion. Evelyn.

A covering of soft short hairs, or down, as one some plants and insects; also, the state of being so covered.

Covered with pubescence, or fine short hairs, as certain insects, and the leaves of some plants.

Short and fat or sturdy; dumpy; podgy; as, a short, pudgy little man; a pudgy little hand. Thackeray.

A sudden and single emission of breath from the mouth; hence, any sudden or short blast of wind; a slight gust; a whiff. " To every puff of wind a slave." Flatman.

An arctic sea bird Fratercula arctica) allied to the auks, and having a short, thick, swollen beak, whence the name; -- called also bottle nose, cockandy, coulterneb, marrot, mormon, pope, and sea parrot.

In a puffing manner; with vehement breathing or shortness of breath; with exaggerated praise.

One of a small breed of pet dogs having a short nose and head; a pug dog.

A short, thick nose; a snubnose. -- Pug"-nosed`, a. Pug-nose eel (Zoöl.), a deep-water marine eel (Simenchelys parasiticus) which sometimes burrows into the flesh of the halibut.

A kind of sleeping car; also, a palace car; -- often shortened to Pullman.

Any measured or regular beat; any short, quick motion, regularly repeated, as of a medium in the transmission of light, sound, etc.; oscillation; vibration; pulsation; impulse; beat; movement. The measured pulse of racing oars. Tennyson. When the ear receives any simple sound, it is struck by a single pulse of the air,…

A short, fat fellow; anything short and thick. I . . . did hear them call their fat child punch, which pleased me mightily, that word being become a word of common use for all that is thick and short. Pepys.

A short, upright piece of timber in framing; a short post; an intermediate stud. Oxf. Gloss.

A punch; a buffoon; originally, in a puppet show, a character represented as fat, short, and humpbacked. Spectator.

Short and thick, or fat.

A short and fat woman; a squab. [Obs.]

Fat and short-breathed; fat, short, and thick; swelled with pampering; as, pursy insolence. Shak. Pursy important he sat him down. Sir W. Scot.