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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Imminent \Im"mi*nent\, adjective [L. imminens, p. pr. of imminere to project; pref. im- in + minere (in comp.) to jut, project. See {Eminent}.]
1. Threatening to occur immediately; near at hand; impending; -- said especially of misfortune or peril. ''In danger imminent.'' --Spenser.
2. Full of danger; threatening; menacing; perilous.
Hairbreadth scapes i' the imminent deadly breach. --Shak.
3. (With upon) Bent upon; attentive to. [R.]
Their eyes ever imminent upon worldly matters. --Milton.
Syn: Impending; threatening; near; at hand.
Usage: {Imminent}, {Impending}, {Threatening}. Imminent is the strongest: it denotes that something is ready to fall or happen on the instant; as, in imminent danger of one's life. Impending denotes that something hangs suspended over us, and may so remain indefinitely; as, the impending evils of war. Threatening supposes some danger in prospect, but more remote; as, threatening indications for the future.
Three times to-day You have defended me from imminent death. --Shak.
No story I unfold of public woes, Nor bear advices of impending foes. --Pope.
Fierce faces threatening war. --Milton.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
imminent
adjective: close in time; about to occur; "retribution is at hand"; "some people believe the day of judgment is close at hand"; "in imminent danger"; "his impending retirement" [syn: {at hand(p)}, {close at hand(p)}, {impending}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
108 Moby Thesaurus words for "imminent": about to be, abusive, advancing, alarming, already in sight, anticipated, approaching, approximate, approximative, at hand, attracted to, awaited, bludgeoning, blustering, brewing, browbeating, bulldozing, bullying, close, close at hand, coming, comminatory, denunciatory, desired, destinal, destined, determined, drawn to, due, emergent, eventual, expected, extrapolated, fatal, fated, fatidic, fear-inspiring, foreboding, foreseen, forthcoming, future, futuristic, gathering, going to happen, hectoring, hereafter, hoped-for, immediate, impendent, impending, in danger imminent, in prospect, in reserve, in store, in the cards, in the offing, in the wind, in view, ineluctable, inescapable, inevasible, inevitable, instant, intimidating, later, likely, long-expected, looming, lowering, lurking, menacing, minacious, minatory, momentary, near, near at hand, nearing, nigh, ominous, on the horizon, oncoming, overdue, overhanging, pending, planned, plotted, possible, predicted, preparing, presumed, probable, projected, promised, prophesied, prospective, proximate, sinister, terroristic, terrorizing, that will be, threatening, threatful, to come, to-be, ultimate, unavoidable, upcoming, waiting
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |