Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- transitive v. To make more rapid; accelerate.
- transitive v. To make alive; vitalize.
- transitive v. To excite and stimulate; stir: Such stories quicken the imagination.
- transitive v. To make steeper.
- intransitive v. To become more rapid. See Synonyms at speed.
- intransitive v. To come or return to life: "And the weak spirit quickens” ( T.S. Eliot).
- intransitive v. To reach the stage of pregnancy when the fetus can be felt to move.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. The European rowan tree.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- intransitive v. 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.
- intransitive v. To move with rapidity or activity; to become accelerated.
- transitive v. To make alive; to vivify; to revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state; hence, to excite; to, stimulate; to incite.
- transitive v. To make lively, active, or sprightly; to impart additional energy to; to stimulate; to make quick or rapid; to hasten; to accelerate
- transitive v. To shorten the radius of (a curve); to make (a curve) sharper.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To become quick or alive; receive life.
- To become quick or lively; become more active or sensitive.
- To enter that state of pregnancy in which the child gives indications of life; begin to manifest signs of life in the womb: said of the mother or the child. The motion of the fetus is first felt by the mother usually about the eighteenth week of pregnancy.
- To make quick or alive; vivify; revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state.
- To revive; cheer; reinvigorate; refresh.
- To make quick or speedy; hasten; accelerate: as, to quicken motion, speed, or flight.
- To sharpen; give keener perception to; stimulate; incite: as, to quicken the appetite or taste; to quicken desires.
- To work with yeast.
- Synonyms To expedite, hurry, speed.
- To excite, animate.
- In naval architecture, to give a greater curve to.
- n. The couch- or quitch-grass, Agropyrum (Triticum) repens. Also quickens.
- n. Same as quick-beam.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- v. make keen or more acute
- v. move faster
- v. show signs of life
- v. give new life or energy to
- v. give life or energy to
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Examples
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Pick up the phone and call quicken loans, ask for Bryan B.
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In most factories it is usual to "quicken" the objects to be silvered before placing them in the electrolysis vats, because the deposit is said to adhere better in consequence of this treatment.
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We shall not 'quicken' our fellows unless we 'die,' either literally or by the not less real martyrdom of rigid self-crucifixion and suppression.
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Dictionary, to "quicken" means "to reach the stage of pregnancy at which the child shows signs of life."
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Gandhi said that the purpose of nonviolent action is to "quicken" the conscience of humankind.
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And just the thought of taking her to bed made his blood quicken and his good sense vanish.
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Blue Coat began life in 1996 as CacheFlow Inc., which sold appliances to businesses that quicken Web-page delivery, among other things.
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However, the stakes are rising as Greece pushes the sensitive issue of reducing private-sector salaries, under pressure from creditors to quicken overhauls.
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That's because even if the MPC decides to edge rates up a bit over the coming months it isn't likely to quicken the ultimate pace of policy "normalization" by much.
Complacent Investors Could be Jolted by an Early BOE Interest-Rate Rise
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If anyone out there thinks voting Republican in November is going to quicken the pace of an economic recovery you truly live in Fantasyland!
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