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 : a very short time (as the time it takes the eye 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,
          split second, trice, twinkling, wink, New York
         minute]

	

	28 Moby Thesaurus words for "jiffy":
   breath, breathing, coup, crack, flash, half a jiffy, half a mo,
   half a second, half a shake, instant, jiff, microsecond,
   millisecond, minute, moment, sec, second, shake, split second,
   stroke, tick, trice, twink, twinkle, twinkling, twitch, two shakes,
   wink

	

	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_. 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)