rapid
[rap-id]
- occurring within a short time; happening speedily: rapid growth.
- moving or acting with great speed; swift: a rapid worker.
- characterized by speed: rapid motion.
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- Usually rapids. a part of a river where the current runs very swiftly.
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Origin of rapid
Synonyms
See more synonyms for rapid on Thesaurus.com2. See quick.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for rapidly
Contemporary Examples
The Newsroom is over, newsrooms as we traditionally understand them are rapidly declining, and New Media is here to stay.
A Few Great Men Too Many: Aaron Sorkin Doesn’t Think You Can Handle the TruthArthur Chu
December 21, 2014
Kendrick rapidly chants these last lines in repetition with Bilal and Anna Wise sing-shouting behind him, like a rallying cry.
Kendrick Lamar Shuts Down ‘The Colbert Report’ with Untitled TrackCharlise Ferguson
December 17, 2014
Nearly 85 percent of its population are expats drawn to work in the rapidly growing tax-havens.
Middle East Murder Mystery: Who Killed an American Teacher in Abu Dhabi?Chris Allbritton
December 3, 2014
But Jeff, who began his foray into pot gastronomy as a hobby, is rapidly turning it into a full-time pot-repreneurial business.
And as of late, those places are rapidly growing in numbers.
Historical Examples
The country was rapidly becoming, they agreed, no place for a gentleman to live.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
Robert soon settled to work, and picked steadily and rapidly.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
Ben Haley meanwhile was rapidly stripping the chicken of its feathers.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
Then I noticed that the sun was gone, and the evening cool was rapidly falling.
The Bacillus of BeautyHarriet Stark
But Angelique's heart now beat so rapidly she could scarcely keep still.
The DreamEmile Zola
rapid
- (of an action or movement) performed or occurring during a short interval of time; quicka rapid transformation
- characterized by high speedrapid movement
- acting or moving quickly; fasta rapid worker
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See also rapids
Word Origin
C17: from Latin rapidus tearing away, from rapere to seize; see rape 1
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 rapidly
rapid
adj.
1630s, "moving quickly," from French rapide (17c.) and directly from Latin rapidus "hasty, swift, rapid; snatching; fierce, impetuous," from rapere "hurry away, carry off, seize, plunder," from PIE root *rep- "to snatch" (cf. Greek ereptomai "devour," harpazein "snatch away," Lithuanian raples "tongs"). Meaning "happening in a short time" is from 1780. Related: Rapidly; rapidness. Rapid-transit first attested 1852, in reference to street railways; rapid eye movement is from 1906.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper