fast

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, General New Zealand, General South African) enPR: fäst, IPA^(key): /fɑːst/

• Audio (UK)

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• Rhymes: -ɑːst
• (UK, US) enPR: făst, IPA^(key): /fæst/
• Rhymes: -æst

• Audio (US)

  (file)

From Middle English fast, from Old English fæst (“fast, fixed, firm, secure; constant, steadfast; stiff, heavy, dense; obstinate, bound, costive; enclosed, closed, watertight; strong, fortified”), from Proto-Germanic *fastaz, *fastijaz, *fastuz (“fast, firm, secure”); see it for cognates and further etymology.

The development of “rapid” from an original sense of “secure” apparently happened first in the adverb and then transferred to the adjective; compare hard in expressions like “to run hard”. The original sense of “secure, firm” is now slightly archaic, but retained in the related fasten (“make secure”).

fast (comparative faster, superlative fastest)

1. (dated) Firmly or securely fixed in place; stable. [from 9th c.]

   That rope is dangerously loose. Make it fast!

2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Spenser

     outlaws […] lurking in woods and fast places

3. (of people) Steadfast, with unwavering feeling. (Now mostly in set phrases like fast friend(s).) [from 10th c.]
4. Moving with great speed, or capable of doing so; swift, rapid. [from 14th c.]

   I am going to buy a fast car.

5. Causing unusual rapidity of play or action.

   a fast racket, or tennis court; a fast track; a fast billiard table; a fast dance floor

6. (computing, of a piece of hardware) Able to transfer data in a short period of time.
7. Deep or sound (of sleep); fast asleep (of people). [16th-19th c.]
   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V scene i:

     Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep.

8. (of dyes or colours) Not running or fading when subjected to detrimental conditions such as wetness or intense light; permanent. [from 17th c.]

   All the washing has come out pink. That red tee-shirt was not fast.

9. (obsolete) Tenacious; retentive.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Francis Bacon

     Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells.

10. (dated) Having an extravagant lifestyle or immoral habits. [from 18th c.]

    a fast woman

    • 1852, John Swaby, Physiology of the Opera (page 74)

      […] we remember once hearing a fast man suggest that they were evidently "nobs who had overdrawn the badger by driving fast cattle, and going it high" — the exact signification of which words we did not understand […]

    • 1867, George W. Bungay, “Temperance and its Champions”, in The Herald of Health and Journal of Physical Culture‎, volume I, page 277:

      Had Senator Wilson won the unenviable reputation of being a fast man—a lover of wine, or had he shown himself to the public in a state of inebriety, unable to stand erect in Fanueil Hall for instance, leaning upon the desk to “maintain the center of gravity,” and uttering words that fell sprawling in “muddy obscurity” from lips redolent of rum, rendering it necessary for a prompter and an interpreter to sculpture his speech into symmetry for the public ear and the public press, he would have been pelted from his high office with the indignant ballots of his constituents.

11. Ahead of the correct time or schedule. [from 19th c.]

    There must be something wrong with the hall clock. It is always fast.

12. (of photographic film) More sensitive to light than average. [from 20th c.]

• (occurring or happening within a short time): quick, rapid, speedy, swift
• (capable of moving with great speed): quick, rapid, speedy; see also Thesaurus:speedy
• (ahead of the correct time or schedule): ahead
• (rapidly consents to sexual activity): easy, slutty; see also Thesaurus:promiscuous
• (firmly or securely fixed in place): firm, immobile, secure, stable, stuck, tight; see also Thesaurus:tight
• (firm against attack): fortified, impenetrable
• (of a dye: not running or fading): colour-fast
• (of sleep: deep or sound): deep, sound

• (occurring or happening within a short time): slow
• (ahead of the correct time or schedule): slow, behind
• (firmly or securely fixed in place): loose
• (firm against attack): penetrable, weak
• (of sleep: deep or sound): light

fast (comparative faster, superlative fastest)

1. In a firm or secure manner, securely; in such a way as not to be moved; safe, sound [from 10th c.].

   Hold this rope as fast as you can.

   • c. 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act II scene v:

     Shylock:

     […] Do as I bid you; shut doors after you:

     Fast bind, fast find;

     A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.

2. (of sleeping) Deeply or soundly [from 13th c.].

   He is fast asleep.

3. Immediately following in place or time; close, very near [from 13th c.].

   The horsemen came fast on our heels.

4. Quickly, with great speed; within a short time [from 13th c.].
   • 2013 August 17, “Pennies streaming from heaven”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8849:

     Faster than a speeding bit, the internet upended media and entertainment companies. Piracy soared, and sales of albums and films slid. Newspapers lost advertising and readers to websites. Stores selling books, CDs and DVDs went bust. Doomsayers predicted that consumers and advertisers would abandon pay-television en masse in favour of online alternatives.

   Do it as fast as you can.

5. Ahead of the correct time or schedule.

   I think my watch is running fast.

• (quickly): quickly, rapidly, speedily, swiftly
• (in a firm or secure manner): firmly, securely, tightly
• (of sleeping: deeply or soundly): deeply
• (ahead of the correct time or schedule): ahead

• (quickly): slowly
• (in a firm or secure manner): loosely
• (of sleeping: deeply or soundly): lightly
• (ahead of the correct time or schedule): behind

fast (plural fasts)

1. (Britain, rail transport) A train that calls at only some stations it passes between its origin and destination, typically just the principal stations

• (rail transport): express, express train, fast train

• (rail transport): local, slow train, stopper

fast

1. (archery) Short for "stand fast", a warning not to pass between the arrow and the target

• (archery): loose

From Middle English fasten, from Old English fæstan (verb), from Proto-Germanic *fastijaną, derived from *fastuz, and thereby related to Etymology 1. Cognate with Dutch vasten, German fasten, Old Norse fasta, Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽 (fastan), Russian пост (post). The noun is probably from Old Norse fasta.

fast (third-person singular simple present fasts, present participle fasting, simple past and past participle fasted)

1. (intransitive) To restrict one’s personal consumption, generally of food, but sometimes other things, in various manners (totally, temporally, by avoiding particular items), often for religious or medical reasons.

   Muslims fast during Ramadan and Catholics during Lent.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Bible, 2 Sam. xii. 21

     Thou didst fast and weep for the child.

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked.

   • 2007, John Zerzan, Silence, page 3:

     It is at the core of the Vision Quest, the solitary period of fasting and closeness to the earth to discover one's life path and purpose.

fast (plural fasts)

1. The act or practice of abstaining from food or of eating very little food.
2. The period of time during which one abstains from or eats very little food.

   Lent and Ramadan are fasts of two religions.

• (act or practice): fasting

• fast in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• fast at OneLook Dictionary Search

• AT&SF, ATFs, ATSF, FTAs, SAFT, TAFs, afts, fats, tafs

From Old Norse fastr, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.

• IPA^(key): /fast/, [fasd̥]

fast

1. firm
2. solid
3. tight
4. fixed
5. permanent
6. regular

• fastansat
• fasthed
• fastlægge
• fastsætte

From German fast (“almost, nearly”).

• IPA^(key): /fast/, [fasd̥]

fast

1. (dated) almost, nearly

• næsten
• omtrent

See the etymology of the main entry.

• IPA^(key): /faːst/, [fæːˀsd̥]

fast

1. imperative of faste

From Old High German fasto, compare fest. Cognate with English adverb fast.

• IPA^(key): /fast/

• audio (Austria)

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• Homophone: fasst

fast

1. almost; nearly

   Fast 60 Spielfilme sind zu sehen.

   There are almost 60 feature films to see.

2. (in a negative clause) hardly

• (almost, nearly): beinahe, nahezu, knapp

• (almost, nearly): ganz

• IPA^(key): /faːst/

fast

1. second-person singular present indicative of fasen
2. third-person singular present indicative of fasen
3. second-person plural present indicative of fasen
4. second-person plural present imperative of fasen

• fast in Duden online

From Old English fæst.

fast

1. fast (quickly)

• English: fast

From Old Norse fastr, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.

fast (neuter singular fast, definite singular and plural faste)

1. solid, steady, firm, fixed, permanent

   fast telefon - fixed phone

fast

1. imperative of faste

• “fast” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Old Norse fastr, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology. Akin to English fast.

• IPA^(key): /fɑst/

fast (indefinite singular fast, definite singular and plural faste, comparative fastare, indefinite superlative fastast, definite superlative fastaste)

1. solid, steady, firm, fixed, permanent, stuck

• “fast” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.

fast

1. solid, firm

From Old Swedish faster, from Old Norse fastr, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.

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fast

1. caught (unable to move freely), captured

   Bankrånaren är nu fast

   The bank robber has now been caught (by the police)

2. firm, fastened, unmoving

   Ge mig en fast punkt, och jag skall flytta världen

   Give me one firm spot, and I'll move the world

3. solid (as opposed to liquid)

   fasta tillståndets fysik

   solid state physics

• fastna
• fäst
• fästa
• fäste

fast

1. fixed, firmly, steadily (synonymous to the adjective)

   att sitta fast

   to be stuck

   att sätta fast

   to attach

2. almost, nearly

   och hade bedrifvit underslef af fast otrolig omfattning

   and had committed embezzlement of a almost unbelievable extent.

fast

1. although, even though

   Farsan löper också bra, fast inte lika fort.

   Dad also runs well, although not as fast.

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