Immediate amputation

Immediate \Im*me"di*ate\, a. [F. imm['e]diat. See {In-} not, and
   {Mediate}.]
   1. Not separated in respect to place by anything intervening;
      proximate; close; as, immediate contact.
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            You are the most immediate to our throne. --Shak.
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   2. Not deferred by an interval of time; present; instant.
      "Assemble we immediate council." --Shak.
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            Death . . . not yet inflicted, as he feared,
            By some immediate stroke.             --Milton.
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   3. Acting with nothing interposed or between, or without the
      intervention of another object as a cause, means, or
      agency; acting, perceived, or produced, directly; as, an
      immediate cause.
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            The immediate knowledge of the past is therefore
            impossible.                           --Sir. W.
                                                  Hamilton.
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   {Immediate amputation} (Surg.), an amputation performed
      within the first few hours after an injury, and before the
      the effects of the shock have passed away.

   Syn: Proximate; close; direct; next.
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