Definition of "exigence" [ex•i•gence]

• Exigency. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And that the pleasurable sensations arising from these secretions may constitute the unnamed pleasure of exigence, which is contrary to what is meant by tedium vitæ, or ennui; and by which we sometimes feel ourselves happy, without being able to ascribe it to any mental cause, as after an agreeable meal, or in the beginning of intoxication."
• "Now she had recalled the approaching hour and the exigence of her service, and turned to depart, to attend her mistress again to the door of the chapter-house."
• "SANCHEZ: And explain to us if you would, what was the original exigence for this?"