Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Moving or functioning rapidly and energetically; speedy.
- adjective Learning, thinking, or understanding with speed and dexterity; bright.
- adjective Perceiving or responding with speed and sensitivity; keen.
- adjective Reacting immediately and sharply.
- adjective Occurring, achieved, or acquired in a relatively brief period of time.
- adjective Done or occurring immediately: synonym: fast.
- adjective Tending to react hastily.
- adjective Alive.
- adjective Pregnant.
- noun Sensitive or raw exposed flesh, as under the fingernails.
- noun The most personal and sensitive aspect of the emotions.
- noun The living.
- noun The vital core; the essence.
- adverb Quickly; promptly.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Very elastic: as, a quick billiard cushion.
- In a quick manner; nimbly; with celerity; rapidly; with haste; speedily: as, run quick.
- Soon; in a short time; without delay: as, go and return quick.
- noun In mining, an abbreviation of
quicksilver . - To make alive; quicken; animate.
- To revive; kindle; quicken.
- In electroplating, to prepare for the firmer adhesion of the deposited metal by the use of a solution of nitrate of mercury.
- To become alive; revive.
- Living; alive; live.
- Lively; characterized by physical or mental liveliness or sprightliness; prompt; ready; sprightly; nimble; brisk.
- Prompt to perceive or to respond to impressions; perceptive in a high degree; sensitive; hence, excitable; restless; passionate.
- Speedy; hasty; swift; rapid; done or occurring in a short time; prompt; immediate: as, a quick return of profits.
- Hasty; precipitate; irritable; sharp; unceremonious.
- Pregnant; with child: specifically noting a woman when the motion of the fetus is felt.
- Active in operation; piercing; sharp; hence, bracing; fresh.
- Synonyms and Expeditious, rapid, active, alert, agile, hurrying, hurried, fleet, dexterous, adroit. See
quickness . - Acute, keen.
- noun A living being.
- noun That which is quick, or living and sensitive: with the definite article: as, cut to the quick.
- noun A live fence or hedge formed of some growing plant, usually hawthorn; quickset.
- noun The quitch-grass. Also quicks, quitch.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb In a quick manner; quickly; promptly; rapidly; with haste; speedily; without delay
- verb obsolete To revive; to quicken; to be or become alive.
- adjective Alive; living; animate; -- opposed to
dead orinanimate . - adjective Characterized by life or liveliness; animated; sprightly; agile; brisk; ready.
- adjective Speedy; hasty; swift; not slow.
- adjective Impatient; passionate; hasty; eager; eager; sharp; unceremonious.
- adjective Fresh; bracing; sharp; keen.
- adjective Sensitive; perceptive in a high degree; ready.
- adjective Pregnant; with child.
- adjective (Bot.) See
Quitch grass . - adjective See under
Match . - adjective (Mining) a vein of ore which is productive, not barren.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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"What'll the _next_ one be!" flashed into my mind, and I burst out eagerly, "Oh, Phil, call somebody -- go for the doctor -- quick, quick, oh, do be _quick_!
We Ten Or, The Story of the Roses Barbara Yechton 1901
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I. ii.113 (118,9) Oh, when we bring forth weeds,/When our quick winds lie still] The sense is, that man, not agitated by censure, like soil not ventilated by _quick winds_, produces more evil than good.
Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Samuel Johnson 1746
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Freezing assets here and going in quick is very important and is the only way to help the victims.
Archive 2009-06-01 Rebecca Tushnet 2009
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The term quick risotto is actually something of a misnomer, because to make a risotto you have to bring water or stock to a boil, sauté the onions and the rice, and then there's the time it takes the rice to cook, about 15 minutes.
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To further cater to its target customer—a time-starved, young mother—the chain added what it calls "quick change" areas.
Why Are Fitting Rooms So Awful? Elizabeth Holmes 2011
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New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is expected to lead opposition to what he called a "quick, cheap settlement" of the 50-state investigation into foreclosure practices.
Richard Zombeck: Mass Register John O'Brien's Presentation Draws Crowd of Recorders in Atlantic City Richard Zombeck 2011
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Despite the extra work, Tamale is happy to have the tests, which he describes as "quick and easy" to use.
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New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is expected to lead opposition to what he called a "quick, cheap settlement" of the 50-state investigation into foreclosure practices.
Richard Zombeck: Mass Register John O'Brien's Presentation Draws Crowd of Recorders in Atlantic City Richard Zombeck 2011
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McPhee praised what he called the quick response by local and campus police.
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McPhee praised what he called the quick response by local and campus police.
oroboros commented on the word quick
Contronymic in the sense: fleet vs. fixed center.
January 27, 2007
slumry commented on the word quick
alive, as the quick and the dead, or as cut to the quick
July 14, 2007
lanklenmot commented on the word quick
As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother's life laid its spell on the very quick of her being ...James Joyce
August 5, 2008
lanklenmot commented on the word quick
As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother's life laid its spell on the very quick of her being ...James Joyce
August 5, 2008
frindley commented on the word quick
Roger Pearson describes the "pestilential fug" of Paris at the end of the 17th century in Voltaire Almighty: A life in pursuit of freedom:
"…churches with their rotting dead and hospitals with their purulent quick…"
October 12, 2008