Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To make more rapid.
  • intransitive verb To cause (a body or soul, for example) to become alive; vitalize.
  • intransitive verb To excite and stimulate; stir.
  • intransitive verb To become more rapid. synonym: speed.
  • intransitive verb To come or return to life, as a soul.
  • intransitive verb To become excited or stimulated.
  • intransitive verb To reach the stage of pregnancy when the fetus can be felt to move.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In naval architecture, to give a greater curve to.
  • noun The couch- or quitch-grass, Agropyrum (Triticum) repens. Also quickens.
  • noun Same as quick-beam.
  • To become quick or alive; receive life.
  • To become quick or lively; become more active or sensitive.
  • To enter that state of pregnancy in which the child gives indications of life; begin to manifest signs of life in the womb: said of the mother or the child. The motion of the fetus is first felt by the mother usually about the eighteenth week of pregnancy.
  • To make quick or alive; vivify; revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state.
  • To revive; cheer; reinvigorate; refresh.
  • To make quick or speedy; hasten; accelerate: as, to quicken motion, speed, or flight.
  • To sharpen; give keener perception to; stimulate; incite: as, to quicken the appetite or taste; to quicken desires.
  • To work with yeast.
  • Synonyms To expedite, hurry, speed.
  • To excite, animate.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To make alive; to vivify; to revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state; hence, to excite; to, stimulate; to incite.
  • transitive verb To make lively, active, or sprightly; to impart additional energy to; to stimulate; to make quick or rapid; to hasten; to accelerate
  • transitive verb (Shipbuilding) To shorten the radius of (a curve); to make (a curve) sharper.
  • intransitive verb To come to life; to become alive; to become vivified or enlivened; hence, to exhibit signs of life; to move, as the fetus in the womb.
  • intransitive verb To move with rapidity or activity; to become accelerated.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The European rowan tree.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb make keen or more acute
  • verb move faster
  • verb show signs of life
  • verb give new life or energy to
  • verb give life or energy to

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From quick +‎ -en. Compare Swedish kvickna, Danish kvikne.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word quicken.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.