minute

I NOUN AND VERB USES

♦

minutes, minuting, minuted

(Pronounced [[t]mɪ̱nɪt[/t]] in minute 1, and [[t]maɪnju͟ːt, AM -nu͟ːt-[/t]] in minute 2.)

1) N-COUNT: oft num N A minute is one of the sixty parts that an hour is divided into. People often say `a minute' or `minutes' when they mean a short length of time.

The pizza will then take about twenty minutes to cook...

Bye Mum, see you in a minute...

Half a minute later she came in the front door...

Within minutes we realized our mistake.

2) N-PLURAL: oft N of n The minutes of a meeting are the written records of the things that are discussed or decided at it.

He'd been reading the minutes of the last meeting.

3) VERB When someone minutes something that is discussed or decided at a meeting, they make a written record of it.

[V n] You don't need to minute that.

4) → See also up-to-the-minute

5) CONVENTION People often use expressions such as wait a minute or just a minute when they want to stop you doing or saying something.

Wait a minute, folks, something is wrong here...

Hey, just a minute!

Syn:

hang on

6) PHRASE (emphasis) If you say that something will or may happen at any minute or any minute now, you are emphasizing that it is likely to happen very soon.

It looked as though it might rain at any minute...

He ought to be back any minute...

Any minute now, that phone is going to ring.

7) PHRASE: with brd-neg, PHR with v (emphasis) If you say that you do not believe for a minute or for one minute that something is true, you are emphasizing that you do not believe that it is true.

I don't believe for one minute she would have been scared...

I don't believe him for a minute.

Syn:

for a moment

8) PHRASE: PHR n, prep PHR A last-minute action is one that is done at the latest time possible.

She was doing some last-minute revision for her exams...

The location has been changed at the last minute...

He will probably wait until the last minute.

9) PHRASE (emphasis) You use the expression the next minute or expressions such as `one minute he was there , the next he was gone' to emphasize that something happens suddenly.

The next minute my father came in...

Jobs are there one minute, gone the next.

Syn:

the next moment

10) PHRASE: PHR that (emphasis) If you say that something happens the minute something else happens, you are emphasizing that it happens immediately after the other thing.

The minute you do this, you'll lose control...

The minute that the war started, everybody was glued to the television.

Syn:

the moment

11) PHRASE (emphasis) If you say that something must be done this minute, you are emphasizing that it must be done immediately.

I need to speak with her right this minute...

Anna, stop that. Sit down this minute.

Syn:

now, immediately

II ADJECTIVE USE

minutest

ADJ-GRADED

(Pronounced [[t]mɪ̱nɪt[/t]] in minute 1, and [[t]maɪnju͟ːt, AM -nu͟ːt-[/t]] in minute 2.)

If you say that something is minute, you mean that it is very small.

Only a minute amount is needed...

The party was planned in the minutest detail.

Syn:

tiny