I. ˈkwikən verb
( quickened ; quickened ; quickening -k(ə)niŋ ; quickens )
Etymology: Middle English quickenen, from quik, quike quick + -nen -en — more at quick
transitive verb
1.
a. : to make alive : revive
warm spring days that quicken the earth
b. : to cause to be enlivened : arouse , stimulate , excite
quickening their interest with vivid details
2. archaic
a. : kindle
b. : to cause to burn more brightly or more intensely
3. : to make rapid or more rapid : hasten , accelerate
quickened her steps
4.
a. : to make (a curve) sharper
b. : to make (a slope) steeper
5. : to treat (articles to be plated) with a quickening liquid
intransitive verb
1. : to quicken something
2. : to come to life : become alive : become charged with life
seed that quickens and becomes ripe grain
3. : to reach the stage of gestation at which motion of the fetus is first begun or felt
4. : to shine brightly or more brightly
watched the dawn quickening in the East
5. : to become rapid or more rapid
her pulse quickened at the sight
Synonyms:
quicken , animate , enliven , vivify mean, in common, to make alive or lively. quicken chiefly stresses the renewal of suspended life or growth or the arousing to full activity, usually suddenly
its characters never quicken with the life one feels lurks somewhere within them — Jerome Stone
grand aspirations which quicken the energies of men — M.R.Cohen
he felt his own blood quicken — Elyne Mitchell
animate emphasizes the imparting of motion and activity, especially lifelike, to something mechanical or artificial
all living creatures, human and animal, are animated by souls or spirits — Frederica de Laguna
almost every gathering is animated by spontaneous folk dancing — American Guide Series: Michigan
a child's animated doll
enliven suggests a stimulus that kindles, exalts, or brightens something usually dulled, depressed, or torpid
enliven the meal by a few foolish jokes — Ellen Glasgow
the crowded chapel was enlivened with bright colors — Josephine Y. Case
a barrel of home brew on a sledge to enliven the occasion — Roderick Finlayson
vivify suggests the renewal of vitality, a freshening or energizing
the room was dead. The essence that had vivified it was gone — O.Henry
the vital force which was vivifying the nation at the expense of an occasional lapse from good taste — Agnes Repplier
Synonym: see in addition provoke , speed .
II. noun
or quicken tree
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English (northern dialect) quikentre, from quik, quike alive, quick + tre tree — more at quick , tree
: rowan tree 1