Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Characterized by rapid motion; swift.
  • adjective Accomplished or arrived at without delay; prompt. synonym: fast.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Successful; prosperous.
  • Marked by speed of movement; going rapidly; quick; swift; nimble; hasty; rapid: as, a speedy flight.
  • Rapidly coming or brought to pass; not deferred or delayed; prompt; ready.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Not dilatory or slow; quick; swift; nimble; hasty; rapid in motion or performance

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Characterized by a rapid or swift motion.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective accomplished rapidly and without delay
  • adjective characterized by speed; moving with or capable of moving with high speed

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English spedi, from Old English spēdiġ ("having good speed, lucky, prosperous; having means, wealthy, opulent, rich in material wealth; rich in, abounding in, abundant, plenteous, copious; powerful"), from Proto-Germanic *spōdigaz (“successful, hurried”), equivalent to speed +‎ -y. Cognate with Scots spedie ("speedy"), Dutch spoedig ("speedy, swift, rapid, quick"), German sputig, spudig ("industrious, speedy").

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Examples

  • Meanwhile, News International announced Friday that it had set up what it called a "speedy, cost-effective alternative to litigation" that would allow phone-hacking victims to apply for swift out-of-court settlements through a company Web site.

    NYT > Home Page By SARAH LYALL 2011

  • Meanwhile, News International announced Friday that it had set up what it called a "speedy, cost-effective alternative to litigation" that would allow phone hacking victims to apply for swift out-of-court settlements through a company Web site.

    NYT > Home Page By SARAH LYALL 2011

  • Meanwhile, News International announced Friday that it had set up what it called a "speedy, cost-effective alternative to litigation" that would allow phone-hacking victims to apply for swift out-of-court settlements through a company Web site.

    NYT > Home Page By SARAH LYALL 2011

  • So will we be flying around in speedy solar-powered blimps sometime soon?

    DARPA Unveils Speedy Solar-Powered Smart Blimp | Inhabitat 2010

  • We have a societal interest in speedy dissemination of research findings, and gene research is cutting edge stuff where we want to keep up.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Gene Patent(s?) Invalidated: 2010

  • Just out of interest, JB, how experimental and speedy is this?

    Cheeseburger Gothic » Dangerous word length experiment. Stand back. 2009

  • Once again speedy recovery brother xxx on January 9, 2010 at 11: 17 am Lee

    Officer Down (Northern Ireland) « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2010

  • But the blue box was indeed moving, in short, speedy bursts, frequently changing direction as it glided back and forth across the grotty lino.

    Boiling a Frog Brookmyre, Christopher, 1968- 2000

  • If our most fervent prayers bring not in speedy and sensible returns, we must not think it strange.

    Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721

  • With this one, just lose the "speedy" -- the decapitative method already fits that bill.

    Rob Kutner: Founding Footnotes 2008

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