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View synonyms for quicken

quicken

[ kwik-uhn ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to make more rapid; accelerate; hasten:

    She quickened her pace.

  2. to give or restore vigor or activity to; stir up, rouse, or stimulate:

    to quicken the imagination.

    Synonyms: enliven, vitalize, animate

  3. to revive; restore life to:

    The spring rains quickened the earth.

    Synonyms: vivify



verb (used without object)

  1. to become more active, sensitive, etc.:

    This drug causes the pulse to quicken.

  2. to become alive; receive life.
  3. (of the mother) to enter that stage of pregnancy in which the fetus gives indications of life.
  4. (of a fetus in the womb) to begin to manifest signs of life.

quicken

/ ˈkwɪkən /

verb

  1. to make or become faster; accelerate

    her heartbeat quickened with excitement

    he quickened his walk

  2. to impart to or receive vigour, enthusiasm, etc; stimulate or be stimulated

    science quickens man's imagination

  3. to make or become alive; revive
    1. (of an unborn fetus) to begin to show signs of life
    2. (of a pregnant woman) to reach the stage of pregnancy at which movements of the fetus can be felt
“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


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Other Words From

  • quicken·er noun
  • re·quicken verb
  • un·quickened adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of quicken1

First recorded in 1250–1300, quicken is from the Middle English word quikenen. See quick, -en 1
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Example Sentences

More recently, researchers have correlated a quickening economic pulse in Iceland with years that had above-average temperatures, just as suffocating heat waves in the global South have tempered growth.

To that end, he floated the possibility of appointing more “judges with some expertise in the field” to quicken the pace at which cases proceed.

From Fortune

That quickens their release of carbon back into the air — which is disappointing news for global warming.

In the hours that followed, the pace of job cuts at some of the world’s biggest companies — across in a range of industries from energy to finance — quickened.

From Fortune

When the pace quickened, I was terrible about setting boundaries between my work and home lives.

From Fortune

Quicken Loans moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010, and has invested a billion dollars in the years since.

Even Judy's appeals to "try and remember about Bombay" failed to quicken him.

The man did not live, nor could the occasion arrive, which would quicken his constitutional drawl.

The monk's eyes seemed to quicken, as though his interest in the outer world had suddenly revived.

I put the strongest in the rear, with orders to quicken the pace of the sluggards with the points of their bayonets in the back.

One wave will be mowed down and another will quicken the pace a trifle and take its place.

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quick drawquicker than you can say Jack Robinson