# fast

Pronunciation: US say "FAST" /fæst/; UK say "FAHST" /fɑːst/

## Adjective

1. Moving, working, or happening at great speed, or able to do so.
   - Simple: Moving or working very quickly.
   - _A fast current swept the canoe downstream before anyone could react._
   - _These new processors are faster than anything sold last year._
5. Of a place, marked by busyness, hustle, and constant activity.
   - Simple: Full of activity, with lots of people busy and moving around.
   - _The downtown district felt fast and restless, alive with traffic and crowds._
   - _Visitors from the countryside found the fast city overwhelming._
8. Indicating a time ahead of the correct or scheduled time.
   - Simple: Showing a later time than the real time, as a clock does.
   - _Her watch was fast, so she reached the platform far too early._
   - _I keep my bedroom clock fifteen minutes fast so that I'm never late for the morning bus._
11. Steadfast and unwavering in feeling or loyalty, now mostly in set phrases like fast friends.
   - Simple: Loyal and not changing in feeling, as a close friend.
   - _Despite the distance between them, the two stayed fast friends for decades._
   - _The two women met in a hospital waiting room years ago and have been fast friends ever since._
12. Not running or fading when exposed to damaging conditions such as water or strong light; permanent.
   - Simple: Not fading or washing out when wet or in bright light.
   - _The dye proved fast even after dozens of hot washes._
   - _Printers test whether the inks stay fast under harsh sunlight._
13. Of a surface or condition, causing unusually rapid play or action.
   - Simple: Making a game or action happen more quickly than usual.
   - _Grass courts are notoriously fast, rewarding players with powerful serves._
   - _The greens were fast that afternoon, sending putts well past the hole._
14. Of photographic film, highly sensitive to light; of a lens, having a large maximum aperture, so allowing short exposures.
   - Simple: For camera film, needing only a little light, or for a lens, opening wide to let in lots of light.
   - _The photographer switched to a fast film to freeze motion in the gloomy arena._
   - _A fast lens with a wide aperture excels in available-light photography._

## Adverb

2. At a rapid pace, or without taking long.
   - Simple: Quickly, in a way that takes very little time.
   - _She solved the puzzle fast and moved on to the next one._
   - _Word of the scandal traveled fast across the office._
7. In a firm or secure manner, so as not to be moved.
   - Simple: In a firm, tight way so that something cannot move.
   - _The climbers held fast to the cliff as the wind rose._
   - _The boat's anchor caught and held fast in the rocky bed._
9. In a manner ahead of the correct time, as a timepiece running quickly.
   - Simple: In a way that shows a time ahead of the real time.
   - _The station clock has been running fast for a week._
   - _My grandfather's pocket watch runs fast, gaining a few minutes every week, so he resets it each Sunday._
10. Deeply and soundly, especially in reference to sleeping.
   - Simple: In a deep, sound way, said of sleeping.
   - _Despite the thunder rattling the windows, he stayed fast asleep all night._
   - _We tiptoed past the guest room, where Grandpa was already fast asleep in his armchair._
17. Right next to or directly after something in place or time; very close.
   - Simple: Very close to something, or coming right after it in place or time.
   - _The hounds came fast on the heels of the fleeing fox._
   - _Her cottage lay fast by the harbor wall, within reach of the spray._

## Verb

3. To go without food, or some foods, for a time, for religious, medical, or health reasons.
   - Simple: To not eat for a time, because of religion or health.
   - _Worshippers fast from sunrise to sunset throughout the season._
   - _He fasted for three days before the ceremony began._

## Noun

4. A time of going without food, especially one kept for religious reasons, such as a set fasting period in the church year.
   - Simple: A time when you do not eat, often for religious reasons.
   - _The community observes a strict fast during the holy season._
   - _She broke her fast with a small bowl of soup._
18. A train that calls at only some of the stations it passes, typically the principal ones. *(British)*
   - Simple: A train that stops only at the bigger stations, not at every one.
   - _Commuters crowded onto the fast to avoid the dozen stops on the slow service._
   - _She missed the fast and had to take a stopping train instead._

## Adjective

6. Deep and sound, said of sleep; completely asleep, said of a person. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: So deep that a person is hard to wake, said of sleep.
15. Firmly fixed or held in place; secure and not easily moved or taken. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Held tightly in place and hard to move.
   - _The old gatepost remained fast despite years of storms._
   - _As the tide turned, the fishermen made their lines fast to the iron rings along the harbor wall._
16. Living a wild, pleasure-seeking life, or behaving in a sexually free way, especially for one's age. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Old-fashioned: living a wild life with too much fun, money, or sex.
   - _She fell in with a fast crowd of gamblers and spendthrifts._
   - _His fast habits drained the family fortune within a few years._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To cause a person or animal to abstain from food, especially before a procedure.
- (adjective) Of a free neutron, having high kinetic energy, typically around one million electron volts or more, as just after release by fission or fusion and before being slowed.
- (interjection) Ellipsis of stand fast: on an archery range, a shouted order to stop shooting and keep clear of the line of fire.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 5–6, 8, 11–16, 18** — From Middle English fast, from Old English fæst ("firm, secure"), going back to Proto-West Germanic *fast and Proto-Germanic *fastuz. The sense "rapid" apparently developed later, first in the adverb and then in the adjective; the old sense "secure, firm" is now slightly archaic but survives in fasten ("make secure").
**Meanings 2, 7, 9–10, 17** — Old English fæste was made by adding the adverb suffix -e to fæst, and it became Middle English fast.
**Meanings 3–4** — From Middle English fasten, from Old English fæstan (verb), from Proto-Germanic *fastāną, from the same root as *fastijaną ("fasten") and thus related to Etymology 1; the Old English noun fæsten is a related formation. The religious sense was presumably introduced in the Gothic church, from Gothic fastan ("hold fast to the rule of abstinence"). The Old English noun meant "fortress, enclosure" as well as "a fast."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fast (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).