Definition of moment
1 a
: a minute portion or point of time : instant
- a moment of dreadful suspense
- —Graham Greene
b
: a comparatively brief period of time
- moments of solitude
2 a
: present time
- at the moment she is at work on her fourth novel
- —Holiday
b
: a time of excellence or conspicuousness
- there's … some deliciously funny moments, but most of it is numbingly subtle
- —Jess Cagle
3
: importance in influence or effect
- decisions of moment must be made by our government
- —L. H. Evans
4
obsolete
: a cause or motive of action
5
: a stage in historical or logical development
- a document of one moment in the history of thought and sensibility in the nineteenth century
- —T. S. Eliot
6 a
: tendency or measure of tendency to produce motion especially about a point or axis
b
: the product of quantity (such as a force) and the distance to a particular axis or point
b
: the expected value of a power of the deviation (see deviation b) of a random variable from a fixed value
