fast
Part of speech: adj
noun
adv
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
rail-transport
railways
sciences
transport
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *fastuz
Proto-West Germanic *fast
Old English fæst
Middle English fast
English fast
From Middle English fast, fest, from Old English fæst (“firm, secure”), from Proto-West Germanic *fast, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.
The development of “rapid” from an original sense of “secure” apparently happened first in the adverb and then transferred to the adjective; compare hard in expressions like “to run hard”. The original sense of “secure, firm” is now slightly archaic, but retained in the related fasten (“make secure”). Also compare close meaning change from Latin rapiō (“to snatch”) to Latin rapidus (“rapid, quick”), from Irish sciob (“to snatch”) to Irish sciobtha (“quick”).
Inflected forms:
form: faster
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: fastest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: fasts
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: faster
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: fastest
pos: adv
tags: superlative
form: fasts
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: fasting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: fasted
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: fasted
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: Firmly or securely fixed in place; stable.
pos: adj
tags: dated
examples: That rope is dangerously loose. Make it fast!
gloss: Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong.
pos: adj
examples: out-lawes […] lurking in woods and fast places
gloss: Steadfast, with unwavering feeling. (Now mostly in set phrases like fast friend(s).)
pos: adj
examples: I still hear you sayin', "Dear one, hold me fast"
gloss: Moving with great speed, or capable of doing so; swift, rapid; light.
pos: adj
examples: I am going to buy a fast car.
gloss: Moving with great speed, or capable of doing so; swift, rapid; light.
pos: adj
examples: Plutonium-240 has a much higher fission cross-section for fast neutrons than for thermal neutrons.
gloss: Of a place, characterised by business, hustle and bustle, etc.
pos: adj
examples: Sydney is a fast city, and the pace is becoming increasingly more frantic.
gloss: Causing unusual rapidity of play or action.
pos: adj
examples: a fast racket, or tennis court
a fast track
a fast billiard table
a fast dance floor
gloss: Able to transfer data in a short period of time.
pos: adj
examples: But at the microlevel it consists of an unimaginable number of atoms connected by springy chemical bonds, all jiggling around at a rate that even our fastest supercomputer might envy.
gloss: Deep or sound (of sleep); fast asleep (of people).
pos: adj
examples: Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep.
gloss: Not running or fading when subjected to detrimental conditions such as wetness or intense light; permanent.
pos: adj
examples: All the washing has come out pink. That red tee-shirt was not fast.
Mineral pigments were probably the first materials used for dyeing. They were generally not fast to water.
Cochineal is remarkably fast on protein fibers, remaining brilliant and saturated despite exposure to sunlight and washing.
gloss: Tenacious; retentive.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells.
gloss: Having an extravagant lifestyle or immoral habits.
pos: adj
tags: dated
examples: a fast woman
[…] we remember once hearing a fast man suggest that they were evidently "nobs who had overdrawn the badger by driving fast cattle, and going it high" — the exact signification of which words we did not understand […]
Had Senator Wilson won the unenviable reputation of being a fast man—a lover of wine, or had he shown himself to the public in a state of inebriety, unable to stand erect in Fanueil Hall for instance, leaning upon the desk to “maintain the center of gravity,” and uttering words that fell sprawling in “muddy obscurity” from lips redolent of rum, rendering it necessary for a prompter and an interpreter to sculpture his speech into symmetry for the public ear and the public press, he would have been pelted from his high office with the indignant ballots of his constituents.
“I don’t like that young woman,” said Lady Hermione; she’s fast.” “Dear Lady!” “I’ve no doubt you think me old-fashioned. Well, I’m glad I am. I say she’s fast, and what’s more, heartless. I was watching her before supper, and I’m sorry for Tony Lee. She’s been flirting as hard as she can go with Harry Vibart-not to give it a worse name-and she’s got Jim Playfair on a string too. She can’t even leave Frank Bellingham alone, though she’s staying in his house.”
You're alone with her at last / And you're waiting 'til you think the time is right / Cause you've heard she's pretty fast / And you're hoping that she'll give you some tonight.
gloss: Uncharacteristically mature or promiscuous for one's age.
pos: adj
tags: dated
offensive
vernacular
examples: […] if she is of the slightly faster kind that gives smart lunch parties at the Strand Corner House, her diet is sometimes a little stronger; she takes to novels of the orchid house and the tiger's lair, to the artless erotics of Miss Elinor Glyn, Mr Hubert Wales, and Miss Victoria Cross.
gloss: Ahead of the correct time or schedule.
pos: adj
examples: There must be something wrong with the hall clock. It is always fast.
gloss: More sensitive to light than average.
pos: adj
gloss: A train that calls at only some stations it passes between its origin and destination, typically just the principal stations.
pos: noun
tags: UK
gloss: In a firm or secure manner, securely; in such a way as not to be moved; safe, sound .
pos: adv
examples: Hold this rope as fast as you can.
Do as I bid you, ſhut doores after you,
Faſt binde, faſt finde,
A Prouerbe neuer ſtale in thrifty minde.
Nine hundred of the ſtrongeſt Men were employed to draw up theſe Cords by many Pulleys faſtned on the Poles, and thus, in leſs than three Hours, I was raiſed and flung into the Engine, and there tyed faſt.
gloss: Deeply or soundly .
pos: adv
examples: The princess was sleeping fast, and her servants were fast asleep too.
gloss: Immediately following in place or time; close, very near .
pos: adv
examples: The horsemen came fast on our heels.
Fast by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped. / That ain't my style, said Casey. Strike one, the umpire said.
gloss: Quickly, with great speed; within a short time .
pos: adv
examples: Do it as fast as you can.
Faster than a speeding bit, the internet upended media and entertainment companies. Piracy soared, and sales of albums and films slid. Newspapers lost advertising and readers to websites. Stores selling books, CDs and DVDs went bust. Doomsayers predicted that consumers and advertisers would abandon pay-television en masse in favour of online alternatives.
gloss: Ahead of the correct time or schedule.
pos: adv
examples: I think my watch is running fast.
gloss: To practice religious abstinence, especially from food.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Thou didst fast and weep for the child.
Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked.
1677 George Fox, The Hypocrites Fast and Feast Not God's Holy Day, p. 8 (paraphrasing Matthew 6:16-18).
And is it not the Command of Christ, that in their Fast they should not appear unto men to fast?
It is at the core of the Vision Quest, the solitary period of fasting and closeness to the earth to discover one's life path and purpose.
gloss: To reduce or limit one's nutrition intake for medical or health reasons, to diet.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The ideal would be to fast in a situation where you are not tempted by food
After the equilibration period, the rats designated for deprivation studies were made to fast for 24, 48, 72, or 96 hr according to experimental design.
gloss: To cause (a person or animal) to abstain, especially from eating.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: At 11 weeks of age, all mice were fasted overnight and underwent gallbladder ultrasonography to determine ejection fraction.
Kittens, when fasted overnight, were not hypoglycemic (<60 mg/dl).
Synonyms: slutty
Antonyms: slow
Derived words: acid-fast
as fast as one's legs could carry one
at a fast clip
bad news travels fast
barefast
bedfast
breastfast
come thick and fast
cragfast
don't drive faster than your guardian angel can fly
earthfast
enfasten
fail fast
fail-fast
fast-acting
fast and furious
fast and loose
fast as lightning
fast backward
fast blue optical transient
fast bowler
fast bowling
fast break
fast breeder
fast-breeder reactor
fast buck
fast busy signal
fast casual
fast company
fastcore
fast crab
fasten
faster than a minnow can swim a dipper
faster-than-light
faster than light
faster than Minute Rice
fast-evolving luminous transient
fast-fashion
fast fashion
fast-flowing
fast follower
fast food
fast-food
fast foodie
fast-foodie
fast food music
fast forward
fast-forward
fast Fourier transform
fastgoing
fast-growing
fastgrowing
fast-handed
fast ice
fastish
fast lane
fast lap
fast leg theory
fastly
fast-mo
fast money
fast mover
fast-moving
fastness
fast-neutron reactor
fast one
fast-paced
fastpack
fast-pitch
fastpitch
fast radio burst
fast reactor
fast rope
fast sheet
fast-tailed
fast-talk
fast-talker
fast tech
fast telegram
fast times
fast-track
fast track
fast travel
fastwalker
fast yellow AB
get nowhere fast
go fast
go-fast
go-fast boat
go-faster stripe
go faster stripes
go nowhere fast
hard-and-fast
hard and fast
headfast
holdfast
hold fast
hyperfast
in the fast lane
lightning fast
lockfast
makefast
make fast
masterfast
move fast and break things
nailfast
nonfast
not so fast
overfast
play fast and loose
pull a fast one
rainfast
semi-fast
semifast
serofast
setfast
shorefast
sitfast
stand fast
steadfast
sternfast
sunfast
superfast
talk fast and loose
thick and fast
think fast
tubfast
tub-fast
ultra-fast fashion
ultrafast
ultra-fast
unfast
washfast
waterfast
wetfast
fastgang
nonfasted
outfast
unfasted
Translations:
lang: Abkhaz
word: алас
roman: alas
lang: Afrikaans
word: vinnig
lang: Southern Altai
word: ылтам
roman: ïltam
lang: Andi
word: ххеххи
roman: xxexxi
lang: Arabic
word: سَرِيع
roman: sarīʕ
lang: Arabic
word: سريع
roman: sarīʕ
lang: Arabic
word: سريع
roman: sarīʕ
lang: Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
word: ܓ̰ܲܠܕܹܐ
roman: jālde
lang: Armenian
word: արագ
roman: arag
lang: Asturian
word: rápidu
lang: Avar
word: хехаб
roman: xexab
lang: Azerbaijani
word: yeyin
lang: Azerbaijani
word: çapıq
lang: Azerbaijani
word: iti
lang: Azerbaijani
word: sürətli
lang: Bashkir
word: тиҙ
roman: tiź
lang: Bashkir
word: шәп
roman: şəp
lang: Basque
word: azkar
lang: Belarusian
word: ху́ткі
roman: xútki
lang: Belarusian
word: бы́стры
roman: býstry
lang: Bengali
word: দ্রুত
roman: druto
lang: Bhojpuri
word: तेज
roman: tēj
lang: Breton
word: buan
lang: Bulgarian
word: бърз
roman: bǎrz
lang: Burmese
word: မြန်
roman: mran
lang: Buryat
word: хурдан
roman: xurdan
lang: Catalan
word: ràpid
lang: Catalan
word: veloç
lang: Chagatai
word: ایلدام
roman: ıldam
lang: Chagatai
word: تیز
roman: tez
lang: Chagatai
word: توزکان
roman: tüzgän
lang: Chechen
word: сиха
roman: sixa
lang: Chinese Cantonese
word: 快
roman: faai³
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 快
roman: kuài
lang: East Circassian
word: псынщӏэ
roman: psənśʼɛ
lang: Czech
word: rychlý
lang: Danish
word: hurtig
lang: Dutch
word: snel
lang: Dutch
word: vlug
lang: Dutch
word: rap
lang: Dutch
word: kwiek
lang: Dutch
word: gezwind
lang: Esperanto
word: rapida
lang: Even
word: хинма
roman: hinma
lang: Evenki
word: хима
roman: hima
lang: Evenki
word: химамэ
roman: himamə
lang: Faroese
word: skjótur
lang: Finnish
word: nopea
lang: Finnish
word: vauhdikas
lang: French
word: rapide
lang: Galician
word: rápido
lang: Galician
word: á présa
lang: Galician
word: rapidamente
lang: Georgian
word: სწრაფი
roman: sc̣rapi
lang: Georgian
word: ჩქარი
roman: čkari
lang: Georgian
word: ცქვიტი
roman: ckviṭi
lang: Georgian
word: მარდი
roman: mardi
lang: German
word: schnell
lang: German
word: rasch
lang: German
word: geschwind
lang: German
word: flink
lang: German
word: flott
lang: German
word: hurtig
lang: German
word: gaach
lang: German
word: trawig
lang: German
word: schnëll
lang: German
word: gschwind
lang: German
word: gleitig
lang: German
word: hurtig
lang: German
word: gnoot
lang: German
word: tifig
lang: Swabian
word: schleunig
lang: Swabian
word: dapferle
lang: Greek
word: γρήγορος
roman: grígoros
lang: Greek
word: ταχύς
roman: tachýs
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ταχύς
roman: takhús
lang: Ancient Greek
word: θοός
roman: thoós
lang: Greenlandic
word: sukkavoq
lang: Paraguayan Guarani
word: pya'e
lang: Hebrew
word: מהיר
roman: mahír
lang: Higaonon
word: madali
lang: Hindi
word: तेज़
roman: tez
lang: Hindi
word: तीव्र
roman: tīvra
lang: White Hmong
word: ceev
lang: Hungarian
word: gyors
lang: Hungarian
word: sebes
lang: Icelandic
word: hraður
lang: Icelandic
word: hraðskreiður
lang: Icelandic
word: skjótur
lang: Icelandic
word: snöggur
lang: Icelandic
word: kvikur
lang: Icelandic
word: fljótur
lang: Icelandic
word: ör
lang: Ido
word: rapida
lang: Indonesian
word: cepat
lang: Ingrian
word: selvä
lang: Ingrian
word: sukkela
lang: Ingrian
word: kiire
lang: Ingrian
word: huima
lang: Ingrian
word: huimakas
lang: Ingush
word: сиха
roman: sixa
lang: Irish
word: luath
lang: Irish
word: mear
lang: Italian
word: veloce
lang: Italian
word: rapido
lang: Italian
word: rapida
lang: Japanese
word: 速い
roman: hayai
lang: Kalmyk
word: хурдн
roman: xurdn
lang: Kapampangan
word: malagwa
lang: Kapampangan
word: masalusu
lang: Khmer
word: លឿន
roman: lɨən
lang: Khmer
word: ឆាប់
roman: cʰap
lang: Korean
word: 빠르다
roman: ppareuda
lang: Central Kurdish
word: خێرا
roman: xêra
lang: Northern Kurdish
word: lezgîn
lang: Northern Kurdish
word: zû
lang: Northern Kurdish
word: bilez
lang: Kyrgyz
word: ылдам
roman: ıldam
lang: Laboya
word: yayarri
lang: Laboya
word: ngattana
lang: Laboya
word: ngingata
lang: Laboya
word: payarta
lang: Laboya
word: geha
lang: Laboya
word: giggara
lang: Ladino
word: presto
lang: Ladino
word: prestozo
lang: Lao
word: ເລວ
roman: l
lang: Lao
word: ໄວ
roman: wai
lang: Lao
word: ຮັນ
roman: han
lang: Latin
word: celer
lang: Latin
word: celox
lang: Latin
word: vēlōx
lang: Latin
word: rapidus
lang: Latvian
word: ātrs
lang: Latvian
word: ašs
lang: Latvian
word: straujš
lang: Latvian
word: knašs
lang: Latvian
word: žigls
lang: Latvian
word: nasks
lang: Lithuanian
word: greitas
lang: Lithuanian
word: greita
lang: Low German
word: snell
lang: Low German
word: swind
lang: Low German
word: swinn
lang: Low German
word: dallig
lang: Luxembourgish
word: séier
lang: Macedonian
word: брз
roman: brz
lang: Malay
word: laju
lang: Maltese
word: ħafif
lang: Maltese
word: rapidu
lang: Maltese
word: malajr
lang: Manchu
word: ᡥᡡᡩᡠᠨ
roman: hūdun
lang: Māori
word: tere
lang: Mongolian
word: хурдан
roman: xurdan
lang: Nepali
word: तेज
roman: tej
lang: Nepali
word: छिटो
roman: chiṭo
lang: Nepali
word: द्रुत
roman: drut
lang: Nepali
word: तीव्र
roman: tīwra
lang: Norman
word: rapide
lang: Norman
word: vite
lang: Norwegian
word: rask
lang: Norwegian
word: kjapp
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: hurtiggående
lang: Occitan
word: rapid
lang: Occitan
word: velòç
lang: Old English
word: hræd
lang: Ossetian
word: тагъд
roman: taǧd
lang: Persian
word: تند
roman: tond
lang: Persian
word: فرز
roman: ferz
lang: Persian
word: تیز
roman: tiz
lang: Plautdietsch
word: schwind
lang: Plautdietsch
word: flinkj
lang: Plautdietsch
word: flott (nds)
lang: Polabian
word: astĕ
lang: Polish
word: szybki
lang: Polish
word: prędki
lang: Polish
word: błyskawiczny
lang: Polish
word: bystry
lang: Polish
word: chyży
lang: Polish
word: rychły
lang: Polish
word: rączy
lang: Polish
word: wartki
lang: Portuguese
word: rápido
lang: Portuguese
word: veloz
lang: Romanian
word: rapid
lang: Romanian
word: iute
lang: Romanian
word: grăbit
lang: Romanian
word: repede
lang: Russian
word: бы́стрый
roman: býstryj
lang: Russian
word: ско́рый
roman: skóryj
lang: Russian
word: скоростно́й
roman: skorostnój
lang: Sanskrit
word: आशु
roman: āśu
lang: Sanskrit
word: रघु
roman: raghu
lang: Sanskrit
word: जव
roman: java
lang: Sanskrit
word: ऋज्र
roman: ṛjra
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: luath
lang: Croatian
word: бр̑з
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: bȓz
lang: Slovak
word: rýchly
lang: Slovene
word: híter
lang: Spanish
word: rápido
lang: Swahili
word: haraka
lang: Swedish
word: snabb
lang: Swedish
word: kvick
lang: Tagalog
word: mabilis
lang: Tajik
word: тез
roman: tez
lang: Tajik
word: зуд
roman: zud
lang: Tajik
word: тунд
roman: tund
lang: Tamil
word: வேகமான
roman: vēkamāṉa
lang: Telugu
word: త్వరగా
roman: tvaragā
lang: Thai
word: เร็ว
roman: reo
lang: Tibetan
word: མགྱོགས་པོ
roman: mgyogs po
lang: Tok Pisin
word: kwik
lang: Turkish
word: hızlı
lang: Tuvan
word: дүрген
roman: dürgen
lang: Ukrainian
word: швидки́й
roman: švydkýj
lang: Ukrainian
word: прудки́й
roman: prudkýj
lang: Ukrainian
word: би́стрий
roman: býstryj
lang: Urdu
word: تیز
roman: tez
lang: Urdu
word: جلد
roman: jald
lang: Urdu
word: تند
roman: tund
lang: Urdu
word: سریع
roman: sarī
lang: Urdu
word: عجول
roman: ajūl
lang: Urdu
word: عاجل
roman: ājil
lang: Urdu
word: چابک
roman: cabuk
lang: Uyghur
word: ئىلدام
roman: ildam
lang: Uyghur
word: تېز
roman: tëz
lang: Uzbek
word: tez
lang: Vietnamese
word: mau
lang: Vietnamese
word: nhanh
lang: Vietnamese
word: lẹ
lang: Vietnamese
word: chóng
lang: Volapük
word: vifik
lang: Volapük
word: sagitavifik
lang: Welsh
word: buan
lang: Welsh
word: cyflym
lang: Welsh
word: clau
lang: Woiwurrung
word: berren-berren
lang: Yiddish
word: גיך
roman: gikh
lang: Yiddish
word: פֿלינק
roman: flink
lang: Zazaki
word: pêt (diq)
lang: Zazaki
word: vistra