Adjacent Words

Quicken definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

QUICKEN, v.t. quik'n.
1. Primarily, to make alive; to vivify; to revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state. Romans 4.
Hence flocks and herds, and men and beasts and fowls, with breath are quicken'd and attract their souls.
2. To make alive in a spiritual sense; to communicate a principle of grace to.
You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2.
3. To hasten; to accelerate; as, to quicken motion, speed or flight.
4. To sharpen; to give keener perception to; to stimulate; to incite; as, to quicken the appetite or taste; to quicken desires.
5. To revive; to cheer; to reinvigorate; to refresh by new supplies of comfort or grace. Psalms 119.
QUICKEN, v.i. quik'n.
1. To become alive.
The heart is the first part that quickens, and the last that dies.
2. To move with rapidity or activity.
And keener lightning quickens in her eye.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: move faster; "The car accelerated" [syn: accelerate, speed up, speed, quicken] [ant: decelerate, retard, slow, slow down, slow up]
2: make keen or more acute; "whet my appetite" [syn: whet, quicken]
3: give life or energy to; "The cold water invigorated him" [syn: quicken, invigorate]
4: show signs of life; "the fetus quickened"
5: give new life or energy to; "A hot soup will revive me"; "This will renovate my spirits"; "This treatment repaired my health" [syn: animate, recreate, reanimate, revive, renovate, repair, quicken, vivify, revivify]

Merriam Webster's

verb (quickened; quickening) Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to make alive ; revive b. to cause to be enlivened ; stimulate 2. archaic a. kindle b. to cause to burn more intensely 3. to make more rapid ; hasten, accelerate <quickened her steps> 4. a. to make (a curve) sharper b. to make (a slope) steeper intransitive verb 1. to quicken something 2. to come to life; especially to enter into a phase of active growth and development <seeds quickening in the soil> 3. to reach the stage of gestation at which fetal motion is felt 4. to shine more brightly <watched the dawn quickening in the east> 5. to become more rapid <her pulse quickened at the sight> • quickener noun Synonyms: quicken, animate, enliven, vivify mean to make alive or lively. quicken stresses a sudden renewal of life or activity especially in something inert <the arrival of spring quickens the earth>. animate emphasizes the imparting of motion or vitality to what is or might be mechanical or artificial <happiness animated his conversation>. enliven suggests a stimulus that arouses from dullness or torpidity <enlivened her lectures with humorous anecdotes>. vivify implies a freshening or energizing through renewal of vitality <new blood needed to vivify the dying club>. Synonym: see in addition provoke.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. & intr. make or become quicker; accelerate. 2 tr. give life or vigour to; rouse; animate; stimulate. 3 intr. a (of a woman) reach a stage in pregnancy when movements of the foetus can be felt. b (of a foetus) begin to show signs of life. 4 tr. archaic kindle; make (a fire) burn brighter. 5 intr. come to life.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Quicken Quick"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. quickened; p. pr. & vb. n. Quickening.] [AS. cwician. See Quick, a.] 1. To make alive; to vivify; to revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state; hence, to excite; to, stimulate; to incite. The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead. --Shak. Like a fruitful garden without an hedge, that quickens the appetite to enjoy so tempting a prize. -- South. 2. To make lively, active, or sprightly; to impart additional energy to; to stimulate; to make quick or rapid; to hasten; to accelerate; as, to quicken one's steps or thoughts; to quicken one's departure or speed. 3. (Shipbuilding) To shorten the radius of (a curve); to make (a curve) sharper; as, to quicken the sheer, that is, to make its curve more pronounced. Syn: To revive; resuscitate; animate; reinvigorate; vivify; refresh; stimulate; sharpen; incite; hasten; accelerate; expedite; dispatch; speed.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Quicken Quick"en, v. i. 1. To come to life; to become alive; to become vivified or enlivened; hence, to exhibit signs of life; to move, as the fetus in the womb. The heart is the first part that quickens, and the last that dies. -- Ray. And keener lightnings quicken in her eye. --Pope. When the pale and bloodless east began To quicken to the sun. --Tennyson. 2. To move with rapidity or activity; to become accelerated; as, his pulse quickened.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(quickens, quickening, quickened) If something quickens or if you quicken it, it becomes faster or moves at a greater speed. Ainslie's pulse quickened in alarm... He quickened his pace a little. ? slow VERB: V, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Vivify, revive, resuscitate, make alive, animate, give life to. 2. Revive, cheer, reinvigorate, refresh. 3. Hasten, accelerate, speed, hurry, expedite, despatch. 4. Stimulate, sharpen, excite, incite, refresh, actuate.

Moby Thesaurus

accelerate, activate, actuate, advance, advantage, aid, animate, arouse, awake, awaken, be begotten, be born, be incarnated, boost, brace, brace up, breathe life into, bring into being, bring into existence, bring to life, brisk, brisken, buck up, bundle, bustle, call into being, call into existence, cheer, chirk up, clear the way, come alive, come into being, come into existence, come to, come to life, conceive, conduce to, contribute to, crack on, crowd, cultivate, dispatch, drive on, dynamize, ease, electrify, encourage, endow with life, energize, enliven, excite, exhilarate, expedite, explain, facilitate, favor, fillip, fire, fortify, forward, fresh up, freshen, freshen up, further, gain ground, galvanize, give birth, give life to, goad, grease, grease the ways, grease the wheels, haste, hasten, hasten on, hearten, help along, hie on, hurry, hurry along, hurry on, hurry up, hustle, hustle up, induce, inflame, infuse life into, inspirit, invigorate, jazz up, kindle, lend wings to, live again, liven, loose, lubricate, make clear, make for, make sensitive, make way for, motivate, move, oil, open the throttle, open the way, open up, pave the way, pep up, perk up, pick up, pick up speed, pique, precipitate, prepare the way, press, promote, provoke, push, push forward, push on, push through, put forward, put on, put on steam, race, railroad through, reanimate, recreate, refine, refresh, refreshen, regale, reinvigorate, remove friction, renew, resurge, resuscitate, return to life, rev, revive, revivify, rise again, rouse, run interference for, rush, rush along, see the light, sensibilize, sensitize, set forward, set up, shake up, sharpen, simplify, smooth, smooth the way, snap up, soap the ways, spark, speed, speed along, speed up, spur, stampede, step on it, step up, stimulate, stir, unbar, unblock, unclog, unjam, urge, vitalize, vivify, wake, warm, whet, whip, whip along, zip up