quick

[kwik]

adjective

quicker, quickest 

1. done, proceeding, or occurring with promptness or rapidity, as an action, process, etc.; prompt; immediate.

   a quick response.

   Synonyms: expeditious, fleet
   Antonyms: slow

2. that is over or completed within a short interval of time.

   a quick shower.

3. moving, or able to move, with speed.

   a quick fox; a quick train.

4. swift or rapid, as motion.

   a quick flick of the wrist.

5. easily provoked or excited; hasty.

   a quick temper.

   Synonyms: precipitate, short, curt, abrupt

6. keenly responsive; lively; acute.

   a quick wit.

7. acting with swiftness or rapidity.

   a quick worker.

   Synonyms: brisk, agile, nimble

8. prompt or swift to do something.

   quick to respond.

9. prompt to perceive; sensitive.

   a quick eye.

10. prompt to understand, learn, etc.; of ready intelligence.

    a quick student.

    Antonyms: slow

11. (of a bend or curve) sharp.

    a quick bend in the road.

12. consisting of living plants.

    a quick pot of flowers.

13. brisk, as fire, flames, heat, etc.

14. Archaic.

    1. endowed with life.

    2. having a high degree of vigor, energy, or activity.

noun

1. living persons.

   the quick and the dead.

2. the tender, sensitive flesh of the living body, especially that under the nails.

   nails bitten down to the quick.

3. the vital or most important part.

4. Chiefly British.

   1. a line of shrubs or plants, especially of hawthorn, forming a hedge.

   2. a single shrub or plant in such a hedge.

adverb

quicker, quickest 

1. quickly.

quick

/ kwɪk /

adjective

1. (of an action, movement, etc) performed or occurring during a comparatively short time

   a quick move

2. lasting a comparatively short time; brief

   a quick flight

3. accomplishing something in a time that is shorter than normal

   a quick worker

4. characterized by rapidity of movement; swift or fast

   a quick walker

5. immediate or prompt

   a quick reply

6. (postpositive) eager or ready to perform (an action)

   quick to criticize

7. responsive to stimulation; perceptive or alert; lively

   a quick eye

8. eager or enthusiastic for learning

   a quick intelligence

9. easily excited or aroused

   a quick temper

10. skilfully swift or nimble in one's movements or actions; deft

    quick fingers

11. archaic

    1. alive; living

    2. (as noun) living people (esp in the phrase the quick and the dead )

12. archaic,  lively or eager

    a quick dog

13. (of a fire) burning briskly

14. composed of living plants

    a quick hedge

15. dialect,  (of sand) lacking firmness through being wet

16. archaic,  pregnant, esp being in an advanced state of pregnancy, when the movements of the fetus can be felt

noun

1. any area of living flesh that is highly sensitive to pain or touch, esp that under a toenail or fingernail or around a healing wound

2. the vital or most important part (of a thing)

3. short for quickset

4. to hurt someone's feelings deeply; offend gravely

adverb

1. in a rapid or speedy manner; swiftly

2. soon

   I hope he comes quick

interjection

1. a command requiring the hearer to perform an action immediately or in as short a time as possible

Confusables Note

The difference between the adverbial forms quick and quickly is frequently stylistic. Quick is more often used in short spoken sentences, especially imperative ones: Come quick! The chimney is on fire. Quickly is the usual form in writing, both in the preverb position ( We quickly realized that attempts to negotiate would be futile ) and following verbs other than imperatives ( She turned quickly and left ). See also slow, sure.

Other Word Forms

• quickness noun
• unquick adjective
• unquickly adverb
• unquickness noun
• quickly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of quick¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English quik “lively, moving, swift”; Old English cwic, cwicu “living”; cognate with Old Saxon quik, German queck, keck, Old Norse kvikr; akin to Latin vīvus “living” ( vital ), Sanskrit jivas “living,” Greek bíos “life” ( bio- ), zoḗ “animal life” ( zoo- )

Word History and Origins

Origin of quick¹

Old English cwicu living; related to Old Saxon quik, Old High German queck, Old Norse kvikr alive, Latin vīvus alive, Greek bios life

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. cut to the quick, to injure deeply; hurt the feelings of.

   Their callous treatment cut her to the quick.

More idioms and phrases containing quick

• (quick) on the uptake
• cut to the quick

Synonym Study

Quick, fast, swift, rapid describe speedy tempo. Quick applies particularly to something practically instantaneous, an action or reaction, perhaps, of very brief duration: to give a quick look around; to take a quick walk. Fast and swift refer to actions, movements, etc., that continue for a time, and usually to those that are uninterrupted; when used of communication, transportation, and the like, they suggest a definite goal and a continuous trip. Swift, the more formal word, suggests the greater speed: a fast train; a swift message. Rapid, less speedy than the others, applies to a rate of movement or action, and usually to a series of actions or movements, related or unrelated: rapid calculation; a rapid walker. See sharp.

Example Sentences

But some of the quickest to respond to the looming cutoff have been communities and citizens mobilizing in every state.

Read more on Salon

And despite their conventional refusal to comment, could politicians become quicker to point out the monarchy's flaws, and more willing to speak out?

Read more on BBC

These bats are known to feed on small túngara frogs, so researchers expected the recordings to show many quick captures of these tiny amphibians.

Read more on Science Daily

An inning later he made a quick turn on a chopper from Daulton Varsho to start one of three double plays he was involved with.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A score supplied a quick, easy way to evaluate a potential borrower.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• abrupt 
• active 
• agile 
• brief 
• brisk 
• cursory 
• energetic 
• expeditious 
• hasty 
• hurried 
• immediate 
• instantaneous 
• keen 
• nimble 
• rapid 
• sudden 
• swift