—adv.
1 at the present or mentioned time.
2 immediately (I must go now).
3 by this or that time (it was now clear).
4 under the present circumstances (I cannot now agree).
5 on this further occasion (what do you want now?).
6 in the immediate past (just now).
7 (esp. in a narrative or discourse) then, next (the police now arrived; now to consider the next point).
8 (without reference to time, giving various tones to a sentence) surely, I insist, I wonder, etc. (now what do you mean by that?; oh come now!).
—conj. (often foll. by that + clause) as a consequence of the fact (now that I am older; now you mention it).
—n. this time; the present (should be there by now; has happened before now).
Phrases and idioms:
as of now from or at this time. for now until a later time (goodbye for now). now and again (or then) from time to time; intermittently. now or never an expression of urgency.
Etymology: OE nu
Useful english dictionary. 2012.