rhizoverbBeta
DictionarytriceBrief moment
noun

trice

TRYSS/traɪs/

A very short time.

The woman fastens the jacket snap in a trice.

A compact before-and-after pair shows a woman fastening a jacket snap in just one second.
Etymology
triceMiddle Dutchpulley

The pulley word led to “at a trice,” literally “at a single pluck or pull”: one quick action became a very short time. The word’s ultimate origin is obscure.

In context

Enhanced Public Domain275:38
it would not take long continued the Sailor I would rid you in a Trice of the creature
1900s Satire Audiobook: Anatole France - Penguin Island

More examples

  • The kids finish the cookies in a trice.
  • I'll be back in a trice.
  • He found the missing file in a trice.

Forms

trice · trices

Similar words

instant
More common and suggests virtually no elapsed time.
moment
Can describe a somewhat longer, less precisely brief interval.