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fast1

[fast, fahst]
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adjective, fast·er, fast·est.
  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)
    1. indicating a time in advance of the correct time, as of a clock.
    2. 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, especially 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.
    1. (of money, profits, etc.) made quickly or easily and sometimes deviously: He earned some fast change helping the woman with her luggage.
    2. cleverly quick and manipulative in making money: a fast operator when it comes to closing a business deal.
  16. Photography.
    1. (of a lens) able to transmit a relatively large amount of light in a relatively short time.
    2. (of a film) requiring a relatively short exposure time to attain a given density.
  17. Horse Racing.
    1. (of a track condition) completely dry.
    2. (of a track surface) very hard.
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adverb, fast·er, fast·est.
  1. quickly, swiftly, or rapidly.
  2. in quick succession: Events followed fast upon one another to the crisis.
  3. tightly; firmly: to hold fast.
  4. soundly: fast asleep.
  5. in a wild or dissipated way.
  6. ahead of the correct or announced time.
  7. Archaic. close; near: fast by.
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noun
  1. a fastening for a door, window, or the like.
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Idioms
  1. play fast and loose. play(def 80).
  2. 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.
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Origin of fast1

before 900; Middle English; Old English fæst firm; cognate with Dutch vast, Old Norse fastr firm, German fest; akin to fast2
Can be confusedfast quick rapid swift (see synonym study at quick)

Synonyms

See more synonyms for fast on Thesaurus.com
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. 20. securely, fixedly, tenaciously. 22. recklessly, wildly, prodigally.

Antonyms

1, 2. slow. 5, 6. restrained. 8. loose.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for faster

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I think I'm just a split second surer and faster than you are with a gun.

  • What was there in life that could enable one to forget it faster?

    Dust

    Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius

  • Faster and faster she fled to the forest, bearing the broken blade to Siegmund's wife.

  • Wouldn't you get on faster with your books if you had a teacher?

  • I have not been the better for it; I was getting on faster while I was merely a plodder.

British Dictionary definitions for faster

fast1

adjective
  1. acting or moving or capable of acting or moving quickly; swift
  2. accomplished in or lasting a short timefast work; a fast visit
  3. (prenominal) adapted to or facilitating rapid movementthe fast lane of a motorway
  4. requiring rapidity of action or movementa fast sport
  5. (of a clock, etc) indicating a time in advance of the correct time
  6. given to an active dissipated life
  7. of or characteristic of such activitya fast life
  8. not easily moved; firmly fixed; secure
  9. firmly fastened, secured, or shut
  10. steadfast; constant (esp in the phrase fast friends)
  11. sport (of a playing surface, running track, etc) conducive to rapid speed, as of a ball used on it or of competitors playing or racing on it
  12. that will not fade or change colour readilya fast dye
    1. proof against fadingthe colour is fast to sunlight
    2. (in combination)washfast
  14. photog
    1. requiring a relatively short time of exposure to produce a given densitya fast film
    2. permitting a short exposure timea fast shutter
  15. cricket (of a bowler) characteristically delivering the ball rapidly
  16. informal glib or unreliable; deceptivea fast talker
  17. archaic sound; deepa fast sleep
  18. informal a deceptive or unscrupulous trick (esp in the phrase pull a fast one)
  19. fast worker a person who achieves results quickly, esp in seductions
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adverb
  1. quickly; rapidly
  2. soundly; deeplyfast asleep
  3. firmly; tightly
  4. in quick succession
  5. in advance of the correct timemy watch is running fast
  6. in a reckless or dissipated way
  7. fast by or fast beside archaic close or hard by; very near
  8. play fast and loose informal to behave in an insincere or unreliable manner
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interjection
  1. archery (said by the field captain to archers) stop shooting!
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Word Origin

Old English fæst strong, tight; related to Old High German festi firm, Old Norse fastr

fast2

verb
  1. (intr) to abstain from eating all or certain foods or meals, esp as a religious observance
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noun
    1. an act or period of fasting
    2. (as modifier)a fast day
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Derived Formsfaster, noun

Word Origin

Old English fæstan; related to Old High German fastēn to fast, Gothic fastan
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for faster

n.

"one who fasts," c.1300, agent noun from fast (v.).

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fast

adj.

Old English fæst "firmly fixed, steadfast, secure, enclosed," probably from Proto-Germanic *fastuz (cf. Old Frisian fest, Old Norse fastr, Dutch vast, German fest), from PIE root *past- "firm" (cf. Sanskrit pastyam "dwelling place").

The adverb meaning "quickly, swiftly" was perhaps in Old English, or from Old Norse fast, either way developing from the sense of "firmly, strongly, vigorously" (cf. to run hard means to run fast; also compare fast asleep), or perhaps from the notion of a runner who "sticks" close to whatever he is chasing.

The sense of "living an unrestrained life" (usually of women) is from 1746 (fast living is from 1745). Fast buck recorded from 1947; fast food is first attested 1951. Fast-forward first recorded 1948. Fast lane is by 1966; the fast track originally was in horse-racing (1934); figurative sense by 1960s. To fast talk someone (v.) is recorded by 1946.

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fast

v.

Old English fæstan "to fast" (as a religious duty), from Proto-Germanic *fastejan (cf. Old Frisian festia, Old High German fasten, German fasten, Old Norse fasta), from the same root as fast (adj.).

The original meaning was "hold firmly," and the sense evolution is via "firm control of oneself," to "holding to observance" (cf. Gothic fastan "to keep, observe," also "to fast"). Presumably the whole group is a Germanic translation of Medieval Latin observare "to fast." Related: Fasted; fasting.

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fast

n.

Old English fæstan, festen, or Old Norse fasta; from the root of fast (v.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with faster

fast

In addition to the idioms beginning with fast

  • fast and furious
  • fast and loose
  • fast buck
  • fast lane
  • fast track

also see:

  • get nowhere (fast)
  • hard and fast
  • pull a fast one
  • stand one's ground (fast)
  • thick and fast
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.