- present participle of fast.
fasting
Americannoun
-
fastings
plural
adjective
-
abstaining from eating or drinking, from certain foods or drinks, or from a particular habitual activity for a period.
-
(of a blood sugar test or its result) using or based on blood taken from a person after they have abstained from eating for a prescribed period.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Explanation
Fasting is going for a certain length of time without eating anything. Sometimes fasting is required before you have surgery, like getting your wisdom teeth removed. Often fasting is done for medical or health reasons, or in an attempt to lose weight. For many other people, fasting is an important part of their religious observance. Fasting is done by Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Jews, among other groups. Fasting comes from fast, which in turn has an Old English root, fæsten, "voluntary abstinence from food or drink, especially as a religious duty."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
However he explained some were losing weight too quickly by fasting for long periods which was not sustainable.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
In late 2022, Elon Musk posted that he lost 30 pounds by fasting and taking semaglutide.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
It is the fasting warming content, heating up twice as fast as the global average, according to the Copernicus climate service.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
The researchers examined the popular 16:8 approach to intermittent fasting.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
But neither fasting, camomile, purgatives, nor rest could cure her.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
I spent in secret humiliation and fastings, and finished my whole assurance to a better life, consisting of three score and four signs, or marks drawn from several graces.
From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Isaac Disraeli
The reason was, that for all his fastings and penances, he was a lazy Camel, and he wanted to graze without the trouble of walking about.
From The Talking Thrush and Other Tales from India by William Crooke
He is worn out with long fastings and continued abstinence and prayer.
From A Search For A Secret (Vol 3 of 3) A Novel by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
It has its prophet or Messiah who was exposed to a tempter,** and overcame all evil; its fastings and prayers; its miracles and its visions.
From Men, Women, and Gods And Other Lectures by Helen H. (Helen Hamilton) Gardener
Like the ancient monks, Jesus practised long fastings and abstained from flesh meats, though he ate fish and vegetables.
From The Eliminator; or, Skeleton Keys to Sacerdotal Secrets by Richard B. Westbrook
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
