Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Fast
Fast
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Fasted
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Fasting
.] [AS.
fæstan
; akin to D
. vasten
, OHG. fastēn
, G. fasten
, Icel. & Sw. fasta
, Dan. faste
, Goth. fastan
to keep, observe, fast, and prob. to E. fast
firm.] 1.
To abstain from food; to omit to take nourishment in whole or in part; to go hungry.
Fasting
he went to sleep, and fasting
waked. Milton.
2.
To practice abstinence as a religious exercise or duty; to abstain from food voluntarily for a time, for the mortification of the body or appetites, or as a token of grief, or humiliation and penitence.
Thou didst
fast
and weep for the child. 2 Sam. xii. 21.
Fasting day
, a fast day; a day of fasting.
1.
Abstinence from food; omission to take nourishment.
Surfeit is the father of much
fast
. Shakespeare
2.
Voluntary abstinence from food, for a space of time, as a spiritual discipline, or as a token of religious humiliation.
3.
A time of fasting, whether a day, week, or longer time; a period of abstinence from food or certain kinds of food;
as, an annual
. fast
Fast day
, a day appointed for fasting, humiliation, and religious offices as a means of invoking the favor of God.
– To break one’s fast
, to put an end to a period of abstinence by taking food; especially, to take one's morning meal; to breakfast.
Shak.
Fast
,Adj.
[
Com
par.
Faster
; sup
erl.
Fastest
.] 1.
Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose, unstable, or easily moved; immovable;
as, to make
. fast
the doorThere is an order that keeps things
fast
. Burke.
2.
Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong.
Outlaws . . . lurking in woods and
fast
places. Spenser.
3.
Firm in adherence; steadfast; not easily separated or alienated; faithful;
as, a
. fast
friend4.
Permanent; not liable to fade by exposure to air or by washing; durable; lasting;
as,
. fast
colors5.
Tenacious; retentive.
[Obs.]
Roses, damask and red, are
fast
flowers of their smells. Bacon.
6.
Not easily disturbed or broken; deep; sound.
All this while in a most
fast
sleep. Shakespeare
7.
Moving rapidly; quick in mition; rapid; swift;
as, a
. fast
horse8.
Given to pleasure seeking; disregardful of restraint; reckless; wild; dissipated; dissolute;
as, a
fast
man; a fast
liver. Thackeray.
Fast and loose
, now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant, esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose, to play fast and loose, to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another.
“Play fast and loose with faith.” Shak.
– Fast and loose pulleys
(Mach.)
, two pulleys placed side by side on a revolving shaft, which is driven from another shaft by a band, and arranged to disengage and reëngage the machinery driven thereby. When the machinery is to be stopped, the band is transferred from the pulley fixed to the shaft to the pulley which revolves freely upon it, and vice versa.
– Hard and fast
(Naut.)
, so completely aground as to be immovable.
– To make fast
(Naut.)
, to make secure; to fasten firmly, as a vessel, a rope, or a door.
1.
In a fast, fixed, or firmly established manner; fixedly; firmly; immovably.
We will bind thee
fast
. Judg. xv. 13.
2.
In a fast or rapid manner; quickly; swiftly; extravagantly; wildly;
as, to run
fast
; to live fast
.Fast by
, or Fast beside
close or near to; near at hand.
He, after Eve seduced, unminded slunk
Into the wood
Into the wood
fast by
. Milton.
Fast by
the throne obsequious Fame resides. Pope.
Fast
,Noun.
That which fastens or holds; especially,
(Naut.)
a mooring rope, hawser, or chain; – called, according to its position, a bow, head, quarter, breast, or stern fast; also, a post on a pier around which hawsers are passed in mooring. Webster 1828 Edition
Fast
F'AST
,Adj.
1.
Literally, set, stopped, fixed, or pressed close. Hence, close; tight; as, make fast the door; take fast hold.2.
Firm; immovable.Who by his strength, setteth fast the mountains. Ps. 115.
3.
Close; strong.Robbers and outlaws - lurking in woods and fast places.
4.
Firmly fixed; closely adhering; as, to stick fast in more; to make fast a rope.5.
Close, as sleep; deep; sound; as a fast sleep.6.
Firm in adherence; as a fast friend.Fast and loose, variable; inconstant; as, to play fast and loose.
F'AST
,adv.
We will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand. Judges 15.
F'AST
,Adj.
Swift; moving rapidly; quick in motion; as a fast horse.
F'AST
,adv.
F'AST
, v.i.1.
To abstain from food, beyond the usual time; to omit to take the usual meals, for a time; as, to fast a day or a week.2.
To abstain from food voluntarily, for the mortification of the body or appetites, or as a token of grief, sorrow and affliction.Thou didst fast and weep for the child. 2Sam. 12.
When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance. Matt. 6.
3.
To abstain from food partially, or from particular kinds of food; as, the Catholics fast in Lent.F'AST
, n.1.
Abstinence from food; properly a total abstinence, but it is used also for an abstinence from particular kinds of food, for a certain time.Happy were our forefathers, who broke their fasts with herbs.
2.
Voluntary abstinence from food, as a religious mortification or humiliation; either total or partial abstinence from customary food, with a view to mortify the appetites, or to express grief and affliction on account of some calamity, or to deprecate an expected evil.3.
The time of fasting, whether a day, week or longer time. An annual fast is kept in New England, usually one day in the spring.The fast was now already past. Act. 27.
F'AST
,Noun.