Adjective

(-)

In effect or essence, if not in fact or reality; imitated, simulated.

In fact a defeat on the battlefield, Tet was a virtual victory for the North, owing to its effect on public opinion.

Virtual addressing allows applications to believe that there is much more physical memory than actually exists.

* Fleming

A thing has a virtual existence when it has all the conditions necessary to its actual existence.

* De Quincey

to mask by slight differences in the manners a virtual identity in the substance

Having the power of acting or of invisible efficacy without the agency of the material or measurable part; potential.

* Francis Bacon

Heat and cold have a virtual transition, without communication of substance.

* Milton

Every kind that lives, / Fomented by his virtual power, and warmed.

Nearly, almost. (A relatively recent corruption of meaning, attributed to misuse in advertising and media. )

The angry peasants were a virtual army as they attacked the castle.

* 2012 , Chelsea 6-0 Wolves [http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19632463]

The Chelsea captain was a virtual spectator as he was treated to his side's biggest win for almost two years as Stamford Bridge serenaded him with chants of "there's only one England captain," some 48 hours after he announced his retirement from international football.

Simulated in a computer or online.

The virtual world of his computer game allowed character interaction.

Operating by computer or in cyberspace; not physically present.

a virtual''' assistant; a '''virtual personal trainer

(computing, object-oriented programming, of a class member) Capable of being overridden with a different implementation in a subclass.

(physics) Pertaining to particles in temporary existence due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

Adjective

(en-adj)

Existing or occurring at the moment.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Timothy Garton Ash)

, volume=189, issue=6, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli , passage=Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.}}

Generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment.

* Arbuthnot

That there was current money in Abraham's time is past doubt.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= T time , passage=The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them

(obsolete) Running or moving rapidly.

* Gower

Like the current fire, that renneth / Upon a cord.

* Tennyson

To chase a creature that was current then / In these wild woods, the hart with golden horns.