faster

Pluralfasters

1. 1
   adjective

   Comparative of fast.

   A faster processor handles the same task in less time.

   She wanted a faster connection for streaming video.

   Note

   The inflected comparative is fast plus -er. It follows the speed meaning of fast, as in Railway Magazine's 1953 report of track renewal proceeding "at a considerably faster rate." The base word also means firmly fixed, steadfast, and bustling, but this comparative measures pace. An unrelated word shares the spelling: one who fasts comes from the other fast, the one meaning going without food.

2. 2
   adverb

   Comparative of fast.

   The new train travels faster between the two cities.

   He learned to read faster after months of practice.

   Note

   The adverb has the same spelling and ending as the adjective comparative, and position tells them apart. Here it follows a verb, as in travels faster or learned faster. The adverb fast also names fixed states, as in held fast and fast asleep, and running ahead of time. Faster compares the speed meaning.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A person who fasts, going without food by choice.

   The faster broke her fast quietly after sundown.

   Religious fasters often avoid all food from dawn until dusk.

   Note

   An agent noun built on the fasting verb, with the same -er that turns eat into eater. It names the person rather than the practice: the faster keeps the fast and later breaks it. Its plural is the regular fasters.

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