Forthwith
A Dictionary of Law · Henry Campbell Black · 1891
A Dictionary of Law
As soon as, by reasonable exertion, confined to the object, a thing may be done. Thus, when,a defendant is ordered to plead forthwith, he must plead within twenty-four hours. When a statute enacts that an act is to be done “forthwith,” i¢ means that the act is to be done within a reasonable time.
J Chit. Archb. Pr. (12th Ed.) 164.