Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Quick

Quick

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Quicker
;
sup
erl.
Quickest
.]
[As.
cwic
,
cwicu
,
cwucu
,
cucu
, living; akin to OS.
quik
, D.
kwik
, OHG.
quec
,
chec
, G.
keck
bold, lively, Icel.
kvikr
living, Goth.
qius
, Lith.
qȳvas
, Russ.
zhivoi
, L.
vivus
living,
vivere
to live, Gr.
βίοσ
life, Skr.
jīva
living,
jīv
to live. Cf.
Biography
,
Vivid
,
Quitch grass
,
Whitlow
.]
1.
Alive; living; animate; – opposed to
dead
or
inanimate
.
Not fully
quyke
, ne fully dead they were.
Chaucer.
The Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the
quick
and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.
2 Tim. iv. 1.
Man is no star, but a
quick
coal
Of mortal fire.
Herbert.
☞ In this sense the word is nearly obsolete, except in some compounds, or in particular phrases.
2.
Characterized by life or liveliness; animated; sprightly; agile; brisk; ready.
“ A quick wit.”
Shak.
3.
Speedy; hasty; swift; not slow;
as, be
quick
.
Oft he to her his charge of
quick
return
Repeated.
Milton.
4.
Impatient; passionate; hasty; eager; eager; sharp; unceremonious;
as, a
quick
temper
.
The bishop was somewhat
quick
with them, and signified that he was much offended.
Latimer.
5.
Fresh; bracing; sharp; keen.
The air is
quick
there,
And it pierces and sharpens the stomach.
Shakespeare
6.
Sensitive; perceptive in a high degree; ready;
as, a
quick
ear
.
“To have an open ear, a quick eye.”
Shak.
They say that women are so
quick
.
Tennyson.
7.
Pregnant; with child.
Shak.
Quick grass
.
(Bot.)
See
Quitch grass
.
–
Quick match
.
See under
Match
.
–
Quick vein
(Mining)
,
a vein of ore which is productive, not barren.
–
Quick vinegar
,
vinegar made by allowing a weak solution of alcohol to trickle slowly over shavings or other porous material.
–
Quick water
,
quicksilver water.
–
Quick with child
,
pregnant with a living child.
Syn. – Speedy; expeditious; swift; rapid; hasty; prompt; ready; active; brisk; nimble; fleet; alert; agile; lively; sprightly.

Quick

,
adv.
In a quick manner; quickly; promptly; rapidly; with haste; speedily; without delay;
as, run
quick
; get back
quick
.
If we consider how very
quick
the actions of the mind are performed.
Locke.

Quick

,
Noun.
1.
That which is quick, or alive; a living animal or plant; especially, the hawthorn, or other plants used in making a living hedge.
The works . . . are curiously hedged with
quick
.
Evelyn.
2.
The life; the mortal point; a vital part; a part susceptible of serious injury or keen feeling; the sensitive living flesh; the part of a finger or toe to which the nail is attached; the tender emotions;
as, to cut a finger nail to the
quick
; to thrust a sword to the
quick
, to taunt one to the
quick
; – used figuratively.
This test nippeth, . . . this toucheth the
quick
.
Latimer.
How feebly and unlike themselves they reason when they come to the
quick
of the difference !
Fuller.
3.
(Bot.)
Quitch grass.
Tennyson.

Quick

,
Verb.
T.
&
I.
[See
Quicken
.]
To revive; to quicken; to be or become alive.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.

Webster 1828 Edition

Quick

QUICK

, v.i.
To stir; to move. [Not in use.]

QUICK

,
Adj.
[If q is a dialectical prefix, as I suppose, this word coincides with the L. vigeo, vegeo, and vig, veg, radical, coincide with wag.]
1.
Primarily, alive; living; opposed to dead or unanimated; as quick flesh. Lev. 13.
The Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead. 2Tim. 4.
[In this sense, the word is obsolete, except in some compounds or in particular phrases.]
2.
Swift; hasty; done with celerity; as quick dispatch.
3.
Speedy; done or occurring in a short time; as a quick return of profits.
Oft he to her his charge of quick return repeated.
4.
Active; brisk; nimble; prompt ready. He is remarkably quick in his motions. He is a man of quick parts.
5.
Moving with rapidity or celerity; as quick time in music.
Quick with child, pregnant with a living child.

QUICK

,
adv.
1.
Nimbly; with celerity; rapidly; with haste; speedily; without delay; as, run quick; be quick.
If we consider how very quick the actions of the mind are performed.
2.
Soon; in a short time; without delay. Go, and return quick.

QUICK

, n.
1.
A living animal. Obs.
2.
The living flesh; sensible parts; as penetrating to the quick; stung to the quick; cut to the quick.
3.
Living shrubs or trees; as a ditch or bank set with quick.

QUICK

,
Verb.
T.
To revive; to make alive. Obs.

QUICK

,
Verb.
I.
To become alive. Obs.

Definition 2024

quick

quick

English

Adjective

quick ‎(comparative quicker, superlative quickest)

  1. Moving with speed, rapidity or swiftness, or capable of doing so; rapid; fast.
    I ran to the station – but I wasn't quick enough.
    He's a quick runner.
  2. Occurring in a short time; happening or done rapidly.
    That was a quick meal.
  3. Lively, fast-thinking, witty, intelligent.
    You have to be very quick to be able to compete in ad-lib theatrics.
  4. Mentally agile, alert, perceptive.
    My father is old but he still has a quick wit.
  5. Of temper: easily aroused to anger; quick-tempered.
    • Latimer
      The bishop was somewhat quick with them, and signified that he was much offended.
  6. (archaic) Alive, living.
    • Bible, 2 Timothy iv. 1
      the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead
    • Herbert
      Man is no star, but a quick coal / Of mortal fire.
    • 1874, James Thomson, The City of Dreadful Night, X
      The inmost oratory of my soul,
      Wherein thou ever dwellest quick or dead,
      Is black with grief eternal for thy sake.
  7. (archaic) Pregnant, especially at the stage where the foetus's movements can be felt; figuratively, alive with some emotion or feeling.
    • Shakespeare
      she's quick; the child brags in her belly already: tis yours
  8. Of water: flowing.
  9. Burning, flammable, fiery.
  10. Fresh; bracing; sharp; keen.
    • Shakespeare
      The air is quick there, / And it pierces and sharpens the stomach.
  11. (mining, of a vein of ore) productive; not "dead" or barren

Synonyms

Antonyms

  • (moving with speed): slow

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

quick ‎(comparative quicker, superlative quickest)

  1. quickly
  2. (colloquial) with speed
    Get rich quick.
    Come here, quick!
    • John Locke
      If we consider how very quick the actions of the mind are performed.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

quick ‎(plural quicks)

  1. raw or sensitive flesh, especially that underneath finger and toe nails.
  2. plants used in making a quickset hedge
    • Evelyn
      The works […] are curiously hedged with quick.
  3. The life; the mortal point; a vital part; a part susceptible to serious injury or keen feeling.
    • Latimer
      This test nippeth, […] this toucheth the quick.
    • Fuller
      How feebly and unlike themselves they reason when they come to the quick of the difference!
  4. quitchgrass
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Tennyson to this entry?)
  5. (cricket) A fast bowler.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

quick ‎(third-person singular simple present quicks, present participle quicking, simple past and past participle quicked)

  1. (transitive) To amalgamate surfaces prior to gilding or silvering by dipping them into a solution of mercury in nitric acid.
  2. (transitive, archaic, poetic) To quicken.
    • Thomas Hardy
      I rose as if quicked by a spur I was bound to obey.

References

  • quick in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • quick in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kwik/
  • Rhymes: -ik

Etymology

From English

Noun

quick m ‎(plural quicks)

  1. quick waltz

See also

Etymology

From Middle English quik or quic, from Old English cwic ‎(“alive”), from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós ‎(“alive”), from *gʷeyh₃- ‎(“to live”), *gʷeih₃w- ‎(“to live”). Cognate with Dutch kwik and kwiek, German keck, Swedish kvick; and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek βίος ‎(bíos, “life”), Latin vivus, Lithuanian gývas ‎(“alive”), Latvian dzīvs ‎(“alive”), Russian живо́й ‎(živój), Welsh byw ‎(“alive”), Irish beo ‎(“alive”), biathaim ‎(“nourish”), Kurdish jîn ‎(“to live”) and jiyan ‎(“life”), giyan ‎(“soul”), can ‎(“soul”), Sanskrit जीव ‎(jīva, “living”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kwɪk/
  • Rhymes: -ɪk

Similar Results