Nearby Words

fasting

[fast, fahst] Example Sentences Origin

fast

2[fast, fahst]
verb (used without object)
1.
to abstain from all food.
2.
to eat only sparingly or of certain kinds of food, especially as a religious observance.
verb (used with object)
3.
to cause to abstain entirely from or limit food; put on a fast: to fast a patient for a day before surgery.

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Fasting is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
noun
4.
an abstinence from food, or a limiting of one's food, especially when voluntary and as a religious observance; fasting.
5.
a day or period of fasting.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English fasten, Old English fæstan; cognate with German fasten, Gothic fastan, Old Norse fasta

un·fast·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To fasting
Example Sentences
  • The fasting glucose tolerance test is the simplest and fastest way to measure blood glucose and diagnose diabetes.
  • But the movement kept going unabated through the fasting month.
  • He prepares for this through fasting and prayer but it will take several hours for the procession to reach the temple.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

fast
O.E. fæstan "to fast" (as a religious duty), from P.Gmc. *fastejan (cf. O.Fris. festia, O.H.G. fasten, O.N. fasta), from the same root as fast (adj.). The original meaning was "hold firmly," and the sense evolution is via "firm control of oneself," to "holding to observance"
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(cf. Goth. fastan "to keep, observe," also "to fast"). Presumably the whole group is a Gmc. translation of M.L. observare "to fast." Related: Fasted; fasting.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

fast 2
v. fast·ed, fast·ing, fasts

  1. To abstain from food.

  2. To eat little or abstain from certain foods, especially as a religious discipline.

n.
  1. The act or practice of abstaining from or eating very little food.

  2. A period of such abstention or self-denial.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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