Part 504

I'll bring thee to the present business

Shak.

3. Not delayed; immediate; instant; coincident. "A present recompense." "A present pardon." Shak.

An ambassador . . . desires a present audience.

Massinger.

4. Ready; quick in emergency; as a present wit. [R.]

5. Favorably attentive; propitious. [Archaic]

To find a god so present to my prayer.

Dryden.

Present tense (Gram.), the tense or form of a verb which expresses action or being in the present time; as, I am writing, I write, or I do write.

Pres"ent, n. [Cf. F. prÈsent. See Present, a.] 1. Present time; the time being; time in progress now, or at the moment contemplated; as, at this present.

Past and present, wound in one.

Tennyson.

2. pl. (Law) Present letters or instrument, as a deed of conveyance, a lease, letter of attorney, or other writing; as in the phrase, " Know all men by these presents," that is, by the writing itself, " per has literas praesentes; " -- in this sense, rarely used in the singular.

3. (Gram.) A present tense, or the form of the verb denoting the present tense.

At present, at the present time; now. -- For the present, for the tine being; temporarily. -- In present, at once, without delay. [Obs.] "With them, in present, half his kingdom; the rest to follow at his death." Milton.

Pre*sent" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Presented; p. pr. & vb. n. Presenting.] [F. prÈsenter, L. praesentare, fr. praesens, a. See Present, a.] 1. To bring or introduce into the presence of some one, especially of a superior; to introduce formally; to offer for acquaintance; as, to present an envoy to the king; (with the reciprocal pronoun) to come into the presence of a superior.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the lord.

Job i. 6

2. To exhibit or offer to view or notice; to lay before one's perception or cognizance; to set forth; to present a fine appearance.

Lectorides's memory is ever . . . presenting him with the thoughts of other persons.

I. Watts.

3. To pass over, esp. in a ceremonious manner; to give in charge or possession; to deliver; to make over.

So ladies in romance assist their knight, Present the spear, and arm him for the fight.

Pope.

4. To make a gift of; to bestow; to give, generally in a formal or ceremonious manner; to grant; to confer.

My last, least offering, I present thee now.

Cowper.