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Faster

5 dictionary results for: Faster

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

fast1

[fast, fahst] Pronunciation Key adjective, -er, -est, adverb, -er, -est, noun

–adjective

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.

(of time)

a.	indicating a time in advance of the correct time, as of a clock.

b.	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, esp. 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.

a.	(of money, profits, etc.) made quickly or easily and sometimes deviously: He earned some fast change helping the woman with her luggage.

b.	cleverly quick and manipulative in making money: a fast operator when it comes to closing a business deal.

16.

Photography.

a.	(of a lens) able to transmit a relatively large amount of light in a relatively short time.

b.	(of a film) requiring a relatively short exposure time to attain a given density.

17.

Horse Racing.

a.	(of a track condition) completely dry.

b.	(of a track surface) very hard.

–adverb

18.	quickly, swiftly, or rapidly.

19.	in quick succession: Events followed fast upon one another to the crisis.

20.	tightly; firmly: to hold fast.

21.	soundly: fast asleep.

22.	in a wild or dissipated way.

23.	ahead of the correct or announced time.

24.	Archaic. close; near: fast by.

–noun

25.	a fastening for a door, window, or the like.

—Idioms

26.	play fast and loose. play (def. 80).

27.	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.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE fæst firm; c. D vast, ON fastr firm, G fest; akin to fast²

]

—Synonyms 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 (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fast¹ (fāst) Pronunciation Key
adj. fast·er, fast·est

Acting, moving, or capable of acting or moving quickly; swift.
1. Accomplished in relatively little time: a fast visit.
2. Acquired quickly with little effort and sometimes unscrupulously: made a fast buck scalping tickets.
3. Disposed to dissipation; wild: ran with a fast crowd.
4. Flouting conventional moral standards; sexually promiscuous.
Quick to understand or learn; mentally agile: a class for the faster students.
Indicating a time somewhat ahead of the actual time: The clock is fast.
Allowing rapid movement or action: a fast running track.
Designed for or compatible with a short exposure time: fast film.
1. Disposed to dissipation; wild: ran with a fast crowd.
2. Flouting conventional moral standards; sexually promiscuous.
Resistant, as to destruction or fading: fast colors.
Firmly fixed or fastened: a fast grip.
Fixed firmly in place; secure: shutters that are fast against the rain.
Firm in loyalty: fast friends.
Lasting; permanent: fast rules and regulations.
Deep; sound: in a fast sleep.

adv. faster, fastest

In a secure manner; tightly: hold fast.
To a sound degree; deeply: fast asleep.
In a rapid manner; quickly.
In quick succession: New ideas followed fast.
Ahead of the correct or expected time: a watch that runs fast.
In a dissipated, immoderate way: living fast.
Archaic Close by; near.

[Middle English, from Old English fæst, firm, fixed; see past- in Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: These adjectives refer to something marked by great speed. Fast and rapid are often used interchangeably, though fast is more often applied to the person or thing in motion, and rapid, to the activity or movement involved: a fast runner; rapid strides.
Swift suggests smoothness and sureness of movement (a swift current), and fleet, lightness of movement (The cheetah is the fleetest of animals). Speedy refers to velocity (a speedy train) or to promptness or hurry (a speedy resolution to the problem). Quick most often applies to what takes little time or to what is prompt: a quick snack; your quick reaction.
Hasty implies hurried action (a hasty visit) and often a lack of care or thought (regretted the hasty decision). Expeditious suggests rapid efficiency: sent the package by the most expeditious means. See Also Synonyms at faithful.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

faster
adverb
more quickly [syn: quicker]

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Faster

Fast\, a. [Compar. Faster; superl. Fastest.] [OE., firm, strong, not loose, AS. f?st; akin to OS. fast, D. vast, OHG. fasti, festi, G. fest, Icel. fastr, Sw. & Dan. fast, and perh. to E. fetter. The sense swift comes from the idea of keeping close to what is pursued; a Scandinavian use. Cf. Fast, adv., Fast, v., Avast.]

1. Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose, unstable, or easily moved; immovable; as, to make fast the door.

There is an order that keeps things fast. --Burke.

2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong.

Outlaws . . . lurking in woods and fast places. --Spenser.

3. Firm in adherence; steadfast; not easily separated or alienated; faithful; as, a fast friend.

4. Permanent; not liable to fade by exposure to air or by washing; durable; lasting; as, fast colors.

5. Tenacious; retentive. [Obs.]

Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells. --Bacon.

6. Not easily disturbed or broken; deep; sound.

All this while in a most fast sleep. --Shak.

7. Moving rapidly; quick in mition; rapid; swift; as, a fast horse.

8. Given to pleasure seeking; disregardful of restraint; reckless; wild; dissipated; dissolute; as, a fast man; a fast liver. --Thackeray.

Fast and loose, now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant, esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose, to play fast and loose, to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another. "Play fast and loose with faith." --Shak.

Fast and loose pulleys (Mach.), two pulleys placed side by side on a revolving shaft, which is driven from another shaft by a band, and arranged to disengage and re["e]ngage the machinery driven thereby. When the machinery is to be stopped, the band is transferred from the pulley fixed to the shaft to the pulley which revolves freely upon it, and vice versa.

Hard and fast (Naut.), so completely aground as to be immovable.

To make fast (Naut.), to make secure; to fasten firmly, as a vessel, a rope, or a door.

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