jiffy n. 1. The duration of one tick of the system clock on your computer (see tick).

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.