Minutes I Ten Time Wait ˈmɪnɪt Back Short

• it's four minutes to six.
• i'll be back in a few minutes.
• boil the rice for 20 minutes.
• a ten-minute bus ride

minute

1. each of the 60 parts of an hour, that are equal to 60 seconds
• It's four minutes to six.
• I'll be back in a few minutes.
• Boil the rice for 20 minutes.
• a ten-minute bus ride
• I enjoyed every minute of the party.
• Just minutes into the second half of the game Robinson scored his second goal.
2. a very short time
• It only takes a minute to make a salad.
• Hang on a minute—I'll just get my coat.
• I just have to finish this—I won't be a minute.
• Could I see you for a minute?
• I'll be with you in a minute, Jo.
• Typical English weather—one minute it's raining and the next minute the sun is shining.
3. an exact moment in time
• At that very minute, Tom walked in.
4. each of the 60 equal parts of a degree, used in measuring angles
• 37 degrees 30 minutes (37° 30′)
5. a summary or record of what is said or decided at a formal meeting
• We read through the minutes of the last meeting.
• Who is going to take the minutes (= write them)?
6. a short note on a subject, especially one that recommends a course of action
7. very soon
• Hurry up! He'll be back any minute now.
8. used to ask somebody to wait for a short time
• ‘Is Mr Burns available?’ ‘Just a second, please, I'll check.’
9. the latest possible time before an important event
• They changed the plans at the last minute.
• Don't leave your decision to the last moment.
10. as soon as…
• I want to see him the minute he arrives.
• The minute she walked through the door I thought she looked different.
11. certainly not; not at all
• I don't think for a minute that she'll accept but you can ask her.
12. used to say that somebody is very stupid
13. immediately; now
• Come down this minute!
• I don't know what I'm going to do yet—I've just this minute found out.
14. exactly
• The train arrived at 9.05 to the minute.
15. fashionable and modern
• Her styles are always up to the minute.
16. having the latest information
• see also up-to-the-minute
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/up-to-the-minute
• The traffic reports are up to the minute.
17. to wait for a short time
• Can you wait a second while I make a call?
18. used when you have just noticed or remembered something, or had a sudden idea
• Wait a minute—this isn't the right key.

Extra Examples

• After twenty minutes I started to get worried.
• Can you spare a minute?
• Come here this minute!
• Could you wait a minute, please?
• Do you have a minute, Miss Brown?
• Don’t leave everything till the last minute.
• Fifteen minutes turned into thirty, and still no one called.
• For ten agonizing minutes she couldn’t find her son.
• Gina wasted ten precious minutes on her final test question.
• He scored in the final minutes of the game.
• I never thought for a minute he’d refuse.
• I spent ten minutes dealing with emails.
• I’ll be with you in a minute.
• If you have a few spare minutes, you could clean the kitchen.
• One minute he was fine and the next minute he collapsed on the floor.
• Tell him I want to see him the minute he arrives.
• Ten long minutes later, he finally had the results.
• The film starts in ten minutes.
• The minutes ticked by and still nothing happened.
• The noise lasted almost a full minute.
• The ship sank within minutes.
• They spend every waking minute together.
• This will only take a minute.
• Tracey was already counting the minutes until the weekend.
• We waited for ten minutes and then left.
• With each passing minute, the tension mounts.
• four minutes after/past two
• ten minutes to three
• the minute hand on the clock
• Hang on a minute—I’ll just get my coat.
• I just have to finish this—I won’t be a minute.
• I’ll be back in a few minutes.
• It’s four minutes to six.
• It’s only a ten-minute bus ride into town.
• Just minutes into the second half of the game Robinson scored his second goal.
• Typical English weather—one minute it’s raining and the next minute the sun is shining.
• Who’s going to take minutes?
• I wrote up the minutes of the meeting and circulated them by email.

Word Origin

• late Middle English: via Old French from late Latin minuta, feminine (used as a noun) of minutus ‘made small’. The senses ‘period of sixty seconds’ and ‘sixtieth of a degree’ derive from medieval Latin pars minuta prima ‘first minute part’. The sense record of a meeting is from late Middle English (in the singular in the sense ‘note or memorandum’): from French minute, from the notion of a rough copy in “small writing” (Latin scriptura minuta) as distinct from the fair copy in book hand. The verb dates from the mid 16th cent.