jiffy
    n 1: a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or
         the heart to beat); "if I had the chance I'd do it in a
         flash" [syn: blink of an eye, flash, heartbeat,
         instant, jiffy, split second, trice, twinkling,
         wink, New York minute]

Jiffy \Jif"fy\, n. [Perh. corrupt. fr. gliff.] [Written also
   giffy.]
   A moment; an instant; as, I will be ready in a jiffy.
   [Colloq.] --J. & H. Smith.
   [1913 Webster]

jiffy
 n.

    1. The duration of one tick of the system clock on your computer (see tick
    ). Often one AC cycle time (1/60 second in the U.S. and Canada, 1/50 most
    other places), but more recently 1/100 sec has become common. ?The swapper
    runs every 6 jiffies? means that the virtual memory management routine is
    executed once for every 6 ticks of the clock, or about ten times a second.

    2. Confusingly, the term is sometimes also used for a 1-millisecond wall
    time interval.

    3. Even more confusingly, physicists semi-jokingly use ?jiffy? to mean the
    time required for light to travel one foot in a vacuum, which turns out to
    be close to one nanosecond. Other physicists use the term for the
    quantum-nechanical lower bound on meaningful time lengths,

    4. Indeterminate time from a few seconds to forever. ?I'll do it in a jiffy
    ? means certainly not now and possibly never. This is a bit contrary to the
    more widespread use of the word. Oppose nano. See also Real Soon Now.

jiffy

   1. The duration of one tick of the computer's system
   clock.  Often one AC cycle time (1/60 second in the US and
   Canada, 1/50 most other places), but more recently 1/100 sec
   has become common.

   2. Confusingly, the term is sometimes also used for a
   1-millisecond wall time interval.  Even more confusingly,
   physicists semi-jokingly use "jiffy" to mean the time required
   for light to travel one foot in a vacuum, which turns out to
   be close to one *nanosecond*.

   [Jargon File]

   (2002-03-02)