Word Direct Answers

What does "prompt" mean?

Prompt: Done or rendered quickly, readily, or immediately; given without delay or hesitation; -- said of conduct; as, prompt assistance. When Washington heard the voice of his country in distress, his obedience was prompt. Ames.

Additional senses

  1. 2.Easy; unobstructed. [Obs.] The reception of the light into the body of the building was very prompt. Sir H. Wotton. -- Prompt, Ready, Expeditious. One who is ready is prepared to act at the moment. One who is prompt acts at the moment. One who is expeditious carries through an undertaking with constant promptness.
  2. 3.A limit of time given for payment of an account for produce purchased, this limit varying with different goods. See Prompt-note. To cover any probable difference of price which might arise before the expiration of the prompt, which for this article [tea] is three months. J. S. Mill.
  3. 4.To assist or induce the action of; to move to action; to instigate; to incite. God first . . . prompted on the infirmities of the infant world by temporal prosperity. Jer. Taylor.
  4. 5.To suggest; to dictate. And whispering angles prompt her golden dreams. Pope.
  5. 6.To remind, as an actor or an orator, of words or topics forgotten.

Sources