Link Centre Dictionary

quick

UK/kwɪk/ US/kʰw̥ɪk/ very common
adjective (6) adverb (1) noun (1)

adjective

1.

accomplished rapidly and without delay

  • “was quick to make friends”
  • “his quick reaction prevented an accident”
  • “hoped for a speedy resolution of the problem”
  • “a speedy recovery”
  • “he has a right to a speedy trial”
Synonyms
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2.

hurried and brief

  • “paid a flying visit”
  • “took a flying glance at the book”
  • “a quick inspection”
  • “a fast visit”
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3.

moving quickly and lightly

  • “sleek and agile as a gymnast”
  • “as nimble as a deer”
  • “nimble fingers”
  • “quick of foot”
  • “the old dog was so spry it was halfway up the stairs before we could stop it”
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4.

flowing with little speed as e.g. at the turning of the tide

  • “slack water”
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5.

performed with little or no delay

  • “an immediate reply to my letter”
  • “prompt obedience”
  • “was quick to respond”
  • “a straightaway denial”
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6.

easily aroused or excited

  • “a quick temper”
  • “a warm temper”
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adverb

1.

with little or no delay

  • “the rescue squad arrived promptly”
  • “come here, quick!”
Synonyms

noun

1.

any area of the body that is highly sensitive to pain (as the flesh underneath the skin or a fingernail or toenail)

Origin

From Middle English quik, quic (“living, alive, active”), from Old English cwic (“alive”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwiku (“alive, lively quick”), from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz (“alive, lively, quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (“alive”), from *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”), *gʷeyh₃w- (“to live”). For semantic development, compare lively. Cognate with Dutch kwik, kwiek (“lively, quick”), German keck (“sassy, cheeky”), Danish kvik (“lively, quick-witted, quick”), kvæg (“cattle”), Faroese kvikur (“quick”), Icelandic kvikur (“lively, quick”), Norn kvikk, hwikk (“living, swarming, teeming”), Norwegian kvikk (“quick, lively, quick-witted”), Swedish kvick (“quick, witty”), and also (from Indo-European) with Greek βίος (víos, “life”), Latin vivus (“alive”), Lithuanian gývas (“alive”), Latvian dzīvs (“alive”), Russian живо́й (živój, “alive, lively, quick”), Polish żywy (“alive”), Welsh byw (“alive”), Irish beo (“alive”), biathaigh (“to feed”), Northern Kurdish jîn (“to live”), jiyan (“life”), giyan (“soul”), can (“soul”), Sanskrit जीव (jīva, “alive”), Albanian nxit (“to urge, stimulate”). Doublet of jiva.

Phrases

  • a quick drop and a sudden stop
  • cut to the quick
  • in quick sticks
  • in quick succession
  • make quick work of
  • olive quick decline syndrome
  • quick access recorder
  • quick and dirty
  • quick as a flash
  • right quick
  • to the quick

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.