I. ˈfast, -aa(ə)-, -ai-, -ȧ- adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English fæst; akin to Old High German festi firm, Old Norse fastr, Armenian hast firm, Sanskrit pastyā homestead
1.
a. : firmly fixed : immovable or moved only with the greatest difficulty
the roots of the tree were so fast in the ground we left them there
a flagpole set fast in its concrete socket
a gun fast in its carriage
a fast and impassable barrier between them
b. : tightly shut : unable to be opened or very difficult to open
after the damp weather all the drawers became fast
the trunk lid was fast so that even after the key was turned it would not budge
: fastened , locked
the windows and doors were all fast so that thieves could not enter
c. : unable to be separated after being fastened together
the boards were fast a few hours after being glued together
made the ropes fast with a solid square knot
d. : not easily extricated or freed : stuck
when his foot went through the rotten floor it became fast between two of the floor timbers
a shell fast in the chamber of a gun
e. : not able to leave something — usually used in combination
bed fast
f. : busy , engaged
g. : somewhat permanently settled : stable
h. : unchangeable
hard and fast rules
2. obsolete
a. of a fortification : unyielding , impregnable
b. of a place : secure against attack
3. : turned from one's purpose only with great difficulty: as
a. : firmly loyal : staunch , steadfast — used in the phrase fast friend
b. archaic : unremitting — used in the phrase fast foe
4.
a. obsolete : compact , dense , solid
b. archaic : frozen over solid
5.
a. : characterized by quick motion:
(1) : moving or able to move rapidly : fleet , swift
a fast car
a fast horse
(2) of a baseball : thrown at the pitcher's highest speed
threw more fast balls than curves
(3) : moving ahead swiftly
a society that was fast as far as improvement is concerned
(4) : taking a comparatively short time
a fast race
(5) : following in rapid succession
took two fast shots
(6) : imparting quickness of motion
a fast bowler
a fast mechanism on the gun trigger
(7) : accomplished or capable of being accomplished quickly
fast work
(8) : marked by abrupt decision or action especially as impelled by a quick temper or irascible nature
a bit too fast with his fists in an argument
(9) of a dramatic or literary work : holding the interest by reason of the sustained conflict, vivid writing, or the rapid advancement of a story
a taut and fast play
a fast rollicking tale
(10) : agile of mind
an excellent witness — eloquent, confident, fast beyond belief — Michael Straight
(11) : having a rapid effect
the medicine was a fast one
the acid was chosen because it was fast
b. : having qualities which are conducive to rapidity of play or action
a fast track
a fast tennis court
a fast gun holster
the roads were fast between the towns
as
(1) of a wicket : in such condition as to cause a bowled cricket ball to leave the ground swiftly after landing — contrasted with slow ; compare fiery
(2) : allowing the rapid passage of a gas or fluid
a fast nipple on the baby bottle
c.
(1) of timepieces or time reports : indicating time in advance of what is correct
(2) of weighing instruments : registering more than the correct weight of the thing weighed
(3) : according to daylight saving time
d. : contributing to a shortening of exposure time — used of a photographic lens or photographic emulsion
e. slang
(1) of money or profits : acquired with unusually little effort and usually in a rapid transaction
made a fast fortune in real estate
made some fast money on horseracing
and often by shady or dishonest methods
made a fast dollar in a con scheme
(2) : involving unusually little effort in proportion to the money gained thereby
tried to think of a show he could do for a fast thirteen weeks that would pay for the baby — Pete Martin
(3) : unusually quick and ingenious or cunning in finding or recognizing and profiting by easy and often shady ways of making or acquiring money
a particularly fast man with a buck — Time
(4) : marked by trickery and unfairness
worked a fast deal on a friend
6.
a. : securely attached or fixed to someone or something
a rope fast to the wharf
when the handcuffs were snapped on, the culprit was fast to the police officer
b. : tenacious
a fast hold on the purse
c.
(1) of a knot : firmly tied
(2) of an alliance or agreement : not easily broken or betrayed : certain , secure
d.
(1) of a harpoon : stuck securely in a whale
(2) of a whale : secured by a harpoon ; especially : harpooned securely by a certain crew and consequently the rightful possession of that crew regardless of subsequent claims
(3) of a whaleboat : secured to a whale by harpoon
7.
a. archaic : sound asleep
b. of sleep : not easily disturbed : sound
fell into a fast sleep
8.
a. : not fading or changing color readily : permanently dyed : colorfast
fast colors
fast dyeings
b. : yielding colors of this kind — used especially of the diazo components of azoic dyes
fast color bases
— see dye table I (under Acid, Azoic, Diazo, Disperse, Mordant )
c. : proof against fading under exposure to a particular agency or action
the dye is made fast to perspiration — Know Your Merchandise
a color that is fast to sunlight
— often used in combinations
sun fast
boil fast
wash fast
9.
a. : marked by or given to living that is unusually active
his health would not allow so fast a life and he was forced to slow down
especially in pursuit of excitement or pleasure
fast living
b.
(1) : dissipated , wild
associating with a pretty fast bunch
(2) : markedly or promiscuously given to a flouting of the proprieties in the matter of personal behavior especially in sexual relations — usually used of a woman
he thought how in 1910 a painted woman was said to be fast — T.H.Raddall
(3) : of or characteristic of a person of this kind
a lot of fast talk and promiscuous behavior
10. : resistant to change, especially to destructive action — used chiefly of organisms and in combination with the name of the agent resisted
acid- fast bacteria
arsenic- fast insects
a streptomycin- fast patient
Synonyms:
rapid , swift , fleet , quick , speedy , hasty , expeditious : fast and rapid are often interchangeable; fast often describes moving objects or creatures and may suggest constant speedy course, flight, or procedure; rapid may refer to actions and their rate of speed and suggest successful course
a fast runner
a fast horse
a fast train
a fast worker
a rapid approach
a rapid gait
rapid progress
rapid operations
swift may suggest speed or rapidity accompanied by easy facility, sure flight, brisk activity, or lack of interference and delay
flawless and chaste and swift in their machined perfection which even the airplane has never been able to rival — Robert Payne
so swift was Caesar that his greatest exploits were measured by days — J.A.Froude
the flight of his imagination is very swift; the following of it often a breathless business — C.D.Lewis
fleet , sometimes rather poetic or literary, may suggest nimble or graceful lightness and swiftness
the Indian bands swept over the hills on their fleet little ponies and wiped out emigrant wagon trains — American Guide Series: Arizona
how the fleet creature would fly before the wind — Herman Melville
quick applies to lively action with alacrity or to prompt occurrence with short duration
am a quick man with my hands, and in a minute and a half I had done what I wanted to do — G.K.Chesterton
a quick brain for intrigue — John Buchan
in passing quick rather than deliberate judgment on the literature of the day — M.R.Cohen
speedy may suggest velocity or quickness along with promptness, dispatch, or haste
orders for the fastest plane, the swiftest motorboat, the speediest racing car that money and American ingenuity could produce — Gerald Beaumont
industries where there is a need for exceptionally speedy reinforcement — Sir Winston Churchill
in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to speedy and public trial — U.S. Constitution
hasty suggests precipitate hurried rapidity, sometimes ineffective or nervous
it had a hurried evacuated look. Many houses had that. The look of the hasty choice made of what to take along — R.H.Newman
we must, this time, have plans ready — instead of waiting to do a hasty, inefficient, and ill-considered job at the last moment — F.D.Roosevelt
expeditious suggests efficient rapidity
to assist me in every way in making the journey as expeditious as may be — Elinor Wylie
if you suggested expeditious English methods of settling accounts he would laugh at you; he does not want his accounts settled — Norman Douglas
II. adverb
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English faste, from Old English fæste; akin to Old High German fasto firmly; derivative from the root of English fast (I)
1. : in a fast manner: as
a. : firmly , fixedly , securely , soundly
frozen fast
fixed fast in the hardened cement
fast welded
fast asleep
b. : loyally , staunchly , unwaveringly
held fast to his belief in justice
labor held fast to its right to strike — F.L.Paxson
c. : leaving no room for play : in the manner of one caught and immovable : tightly
a foot stuck fast between the boards of the floor
holding his mother's hand fast
also : leaving no access or outlet
a door shut fast
the blinder over his eyes as fast as ever — Mary Deasy
d. : in a rapid manner : quickly , swiftly
run fast
perils had thickened about him fast — Charles Dickens
a building fast going to ruin
also : readily , eagerly
complete the task fast if paid enough
e. : in quick succession
bullets coming thick and fast
f. : with speed and accuracy of mental process : with intellectual agility
a man who could think fast in a crisis
also : continuously and facilely with the intent of influencing or deceiving someone or evading trouble or confusing an issue
when the police caught him in the act he talked fast to try to prove his innocence
what he lacks in knowledge he can make up for by talking fast — Stuart Chase
g. : in a wild or dissipated way
living too fast for his health
: so as to flout the conventions, especially sexual convention in one's behavior
living fast and free
playing fast with the ladies
h. : ahead or in advance of a correct time or posted schedule
a clock that runs fast
a train running two minutes fast
2. obsolete : with a fixity of attention : zealously , steadily
3. archaic : close , near
sat fast by hell's gate — John Milton
4. obsolete : at once , immediately
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English fasten, festen from Old English fæstan; akin to Old High German festen to make fast, Old Norse festa to settle, fix; derivative from the root of English fast (I)
obsolete : to make fast : bind
IV. interjection
Etymology: fast (II)
— used as an exclamation in archery expressing a warning to one about to pass in the line of an arrow's flight
V. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English fasten, from Old English fæstan; akin to Old High German fastēn to fast, Old Norse fasta, Gothic fastan; derivative from the root of English fast (I)
intransitive verb
1. : to abstain from food : omit to take nourishment in whole or in part : go hungry
2. : to practice abstinence from food voluntarily for a time as a religious exercise or duty
to counsel men to fast and pray
3. : to restrict one's diet by eating sparingly or by abstaining from certain foods
fast in Lent
transitive verb
: to cause to go without food : deny food to
the patient is fasted and given a mild hypnotic — Lancet
•
- fast on
VI. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English faste, from Old Norse fasta; akin to Old High German fasta fast; derivative from the root of Old High German fastēn to fast, Old Norse fasta
1.
a. : voluntary abstinence from food or from certain kinds of food for a space of time as a spiritual discipline or as a religious exercise
a day for a general fast
b. : abstinence from food : the omission of or failure to take food for an unusual length of time
2. : a time of fasting
observe the fasts and feasts of the church
went on a fast of a month as a protest
VII. noun
( -s )
Etymology: alteration (influenced by fast ) (I) of Middle English fest, from Old Norse festr rope, mooring cable, from fastr firm — more at fast I
: something that fastens or holds a fastening
a door fast
a window fast
as
a. : a mooring rope or cable
a stern fast
a quarter fast
— compare breast fast
b. : a post on a pier or on shore around which hawsers are passed in mooring