fast

fast¹

/fast, fahst/, adj., faster, fastest, adv., faster, fastest, n.

adj.

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.

3. (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. Photog.

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.

18. 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.

adv.

19. quickly, swiftly, or rapidly.

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

21. tightly; firmly: to hold fast.

22. soundly: fast asleep.

23. in a wild or dissipated way.

24. ahead of the correct or announced time.

25. Archaic. close; near: fast by.

26. play fast and loose. See play (def. 76).

n.

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

[bef. 900; ME; OE faest firm; c. D vast, ON fastr firm, G fest; akin to FAST²]

Syn. 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. 21. securely, fixedly, tenaciously. 23. recklessly, wildly, prodigally.

Ant. 1, 2. slow. 5, 6. restrained. 8. loose.

fast²

/fast, fahst/, v.i.

1. to abstain from all food.

2. to eat only sparingly or of certain kinds of food, esp. as a religious observance.

v.t.

3. to cause to abstain entirely from or limit food; put on a fast: to fast a patient for a day before surgery.

n.

4. an abstinence from food, or a limiting of one's food, esp. when voluntary and as a religious observance; fasting.

5. a day or period of fasting.

[bef. 1000; ME fasten, OE faestan; c. G fasten, Goth fastan, ON fasta]

fast³

/fast, fahst/, n.

a chain or rope for mooring a vessel.

[1670-80; alter., by assoc. with FAST¹, of late ME fest, perh. n. use of fest, ptp. of festen to FASTEN, or < ON festr mooring rope]

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