last minute
An arbitrary (non-specific) point in time, too close to a deadline to reasonably begin a critical task.
I like to do everything at the last minute. It does tend to make me late for things, though.
noun
A unit of time which is one sixtieth of an hour (sixty seconds).
Holonyms: hectosecond < kilosecond < hour < day < week < megasecond < fortnight < month < year < gigasecond < century < kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettasecond < yottasecond < ronnasecond < quettasecond
Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond < picosecond < nanosecond < microsecond < millisecond < centisecond < decisecond < second < decasecond
A short but unspecified time period.
give me a minute
Wait a minute, I’m not ready yet!
A unit of angle equal to one-sixtieth of a degree.
We need to be sure these maps are accurate to within one minute of arc.
A (usually formal) written record of a meeting or a part of a meeting.
Let’s look at the minutes of last week’s meeting.
The Clerk or 'recording Clerk' drafts a minute and then, or at a later time, reads it to the Meeting. Subsequent contributions are on the wording of the minute only, until it can be accepted by the Meeting. Once the minute is accepted, the Meeting moves on to the next item on the agenda.
A unit of purchase on a telephone or other similar network, especially a cell phone network, roughly equivalent in gross form to sixty seconds' use of the network.
If you buy this model, you’ll get 100 free minutes.
verb
Of an event, to write in a memo or the minutes of a meeting.
I’ll minute this evening’s meeting.
I dare say there was a vast amount of minuting, memoranduming, and despatch-boxing, on this mighty subject.
To set down a short sketch or note of; to jot down; to make a minute or a brief summary of.
The Empress of Russia, with her own hand, minuted an edict for universal tolerance.
adj
Very small.
They found only minute quantities of chemical residue on his clothing.
Very careful and exact, giving small details.
The lawyer gave the witness a minute examination.
The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.