of the various words in this group. _Immediately_
primarily signifies without the intervention of anything as a medium,
hence without the intervention of any, even the briefest, interval or
lapse of time. _By and by_, which was once a synonym, has become an
antonym of _immediately_, meaning at some (perhaps remote) future time.
_Directly_, which once meant with no intervening time, now means after
some little while; _presently_ no longer means in this very present, but
before very long. Even _immediately_ is sliding from its
instantaneousness, so that we are fain to substitute _at once_,
_instantly_, etc., when we would make promptness emphatic. _Right away_
and _right off_ are vigorous conversational expressions in the United
States.

Antonyms:

after a while, by and by, hereafter, in the future, some time.

* * * * *

IMMERSE.

Synonyms:

bury, dip, douse, duck, immerge, plunge, sink, submerge.

_Dip_ is Saxon, while _immerse_ is Latin for the same initial act; _dip_
is accordingly the more popular and commonplace, _immerse_ the more
elegant and dignified expression in many cases. To speak of baptism by
immersion as _dipping_ now seems rude; tho entirely proper and usual in
early English. Baptists now universally use the word _immerse_. To _dip_
and to _immerse_ alike signify to _bury_ or _submerge_ some object in a
liquid; but _dip_ implies that the object _dipped_ is at once removed
from the liquid, while _immerse_ is wholly silent as to the removal.
_Immerse_ also suggests more absolute completeness of the action; one
may _dip_ his sleeve or _dip_ a sponge in a liquid, if he but touches
the edge; if he _immerses_ it, he completely _sinks_ it under, and
covers it with the liquid. _Submerge_ implies that the object can not
readily be removed, if at all; as, a _submerged_ wreck. To _plunge_ is
to _immerse_ suddenly and violently, for which _douse_ and _duck_ are
colloquial terms. _Dip_ is used, also, unlike the other words, to denote
the putting of a hollow vessel into a liquid in order to remove a
portion of it; in this sense we say _dip up_, _dip out_. Compare
synonyms for BURY.

Preposition:

The object is immersed _in_ water.

* * * * *

IMMINENT.

Synonyms:

impending, threatening.

_Imminent_, from the Latin, with the sense of projecting over, signifies
liable to happen at once, as some calamity, dangerous a