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quickening

 - 6 dictionary results

quick⋅en

  [kwik-uhn]
Use quickening in a Sentence
–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.
3. to revive; restore life to: The spring rains quickened the earth.
–verb (used without object)
4. to become more active, sensitive, etc.: This drug causes the pulse to quicken.
5. to become alive; receive life.
6. (of the mother) to enter that stage of pregnancy in which the fetus gives indications of life.
7. (of a fetus in the womb) to begin to manifest signs of life.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME quikenen. See quick, -en 1

Related forms:
quick⋅en⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
2. animate, vitalize, enliven. 3. vivify.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To quickening
quick·en   (kwĭk'ən)   
v.   quick·ened, quick·en·ing, quick·ens

v.   tr.

  1. To make more rapid; accelerate.

  2. To make alive; vitalize.

  3. To excite and stimulate; stir: Such stories quicken the imagination.

  4. To make steeper.

v.   intr.

  1. To become more rapid. See Synonyms at speed.

  2. To come or return to life: "And the weak spirit quickens" (T.S. Eliot).

  3. To reach the stage of pregnancy when the fetus can be felt to move.

quick'en·er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: quick·en
Pronunciation: 'kwik-&n
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Forms: quick·ened; quick·en·ing /-(&-)ni[ng]/
: to reach the stage of gestation at which fetal motion is felt

Main Entry: quickening
Function: noun
: the first motion of a fetus in the uterus felt by the mother usually somewhat before the middle of the period of gestation
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

quicken quick·en (kwĭk'ən)
v. quick·ened, quick·en·ing, quick·ens

  1. To become more rapid.

  2. To reach the stage of pregnancy when the fetus can be felt to move.

quickening n.
The initial signs of fetal life felt by the mother as a result of the movements by the fetus.

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