fast 1
/fast, fahst/ , adj., faster, fastest , adv., faster, fastest , n.
adj.
1. moving or able to move, operate, function, or take effect quickly; quick; swift; rapid: a fast horse; a fast pain reliever; a fast thinker.
2. done in comparatively little time; taking a comparatively short time: a fast race; fast work.
3. (of time)
a. indicating a time in advance of the correct time, as of a clock.
b. noting or according to daylight-saving time.
4. adapted to, allowing, productive of, or imparting rapid movement: a hull with fast lines; one of the fastest pitchers in baseball.
5. characterized by unrestrained conduct or lack of moral conventions, esp. in sexual relations; wanton; loose: Some young people in that era were considered fast, if not downright promiscuous.
6. characterized by hectic activity: leading a fast life.
7. resistant: acid-fast.
8. firmly fixed in place; not easily moved; securely attached.
9. held or caught firmly, so as to be unable to escape or be extricated: an animal fast in a trap.
10. firmly tied, as a knot.
11. closed and made secure, as a door, gate, or shutter.
12. such as to hold securely: to lay fast hold on a thing.
13. firm in adherence; loyal; devoted: fast friends.
14. permanent, lasting, or unchangeable: a fast color; a hard and fast rule.
15. Informal.
a. (of money, profits, etc.) made quickly or easily and sometimes deviously: He earned some fast change helping the woman with her luggage.
b. cleverly quick and manipulative in making money: a fast operator when it comes to closing a business deal.
16. Photog.
a. (of a lens) able to transmit a relatively large amount of light in a relatively short time.
b. (of a film) requiring a relatively short exposure time to attain a given density.
17. Horse Racing.
a. (of a track condition) completely dry.
b. (of a track surface) very hard.
18. pull a fast one , Informal. to play an unfair trick; practice deceit: He tried to pull a fast one on us by switching the cards.
adv.
19. quickly, swiftly, or rapidly.
20. in quick succession: Events followed fast upon one another to the crisis.
21. tightly; firmly: to hold fast.
22. soundly: fast asleep.
23. in a wild or dissipated way.
24. ahead of the correct or announced time.
25. Archaic. close; near: fast by.
26. play fast and loose . See play (def. 76).
n.
27. a fastening for a door, window, or the like.
[ bef. 900; ME; OE faest firm; c. D vast, ON fastr firm, G fest; akin to FAST 2 ]
Syn. 1, 2. fleet, speedy. See quick. 5. dissipated, dissolute, profligate, immoral; wild, prodigal. 8. secure, tight, immovable, firm. 9. inextricable. 13. faithful, steadfast. 14. enduring. 21. securely, fixedly, tenaciously. 23. recklessly, wildly, prodigally.
Ant. 1, 2. slow. 5, 6 . restrained. 8. loose.
fast 2
/fast, fahst/ , v.i.
1. to abstain from all food.
2. to eat only sparingly or of certain kinds of food, esp. as a religious observance.
v.t.
3. to cause to abstain entirely from or limit food; put on a fast: to fast a patient for a day before surgery.
n.
4. an abstinence from food, or a limiting of one's food, esp. when voluntary and as a religious observance; fasting.
5. a day or period of fasting.
[ bef. 1000; ME fasten, OE faestan; c. G fasten, Goth fastan, ON fasta ]
fast 3
/fast, fahst/ , n.
a chain or rope for mooring a vessel.
[ 1670-80; alter., by assoc. with FAST 1 , of late ME fest, perh. n. use of fest, ptp. of festen to FASTEN, or festr mooring rope ]