said of words, expressions etc: occurring only once; devised for one specific occasion
nonce usages
a nonce meaning
[from for the nonce; see nonce2]
nonce2
for the nonce
literary for the present; for the time being
This idea satisfied me, and I dismissed my curiosity for the nonce — Poe archaic for the purpose
I'll have prepared him a chalice for the nonce — Shakespeare
[Middle English the nanes, alteration, by misdivision, of then anes in such phrases as to then anes for the one purpose, from then dative sing. of the1 + anes: see once1]
nonce3noun
Brit, slang a sexual deviant, esp one convicted of an offence such as child molestation