quick
Pronunciation: (kwik), [key]
— adj., n., adv., -er, -est, -er, -est.
—adj.
- done, proceeding, or occurring with promptness or rapidity, as an action, process, etc.; prompt; immediate: a quick response.
- that is over or completed within a short interval of time: a quick shower.
- moving, or able to move, with speed: a quick fox; a quick train.
- swift or rapid, as motion: a quick flick of the wrist.
- easily provoked or excited; hasty: a quick temper.
- keenly responsive; lively; acute: a quick wit.
- acting with swiftness or rapidity: a quick worker.
- prompt or swift to do something: quick to respond.
- prompt to perceive; sensitive: a quick eye.
- prompt to understand, learn, etc.; of ready intelligence: a quick student.
- (of a bend or curve) sharp: a quick bend in the road.
- consisting of living plants: a quick pot of flowers.
- brisk, as fire, flames, heat, etc.
-
- endowed with life.
- having a high degree of vigor, energy, or activity.
—n.
- living persons: the quick and the dead.
- the tender, sensitive flesh of the living body, esp. that under the nails: nails bitten down to the quick.
- the vital or most important part.
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- a line of shrubs or plants, esp. of hawthorn, forming a hedge.
- a single shrub or plant in such a hedge.
- to injure deeply; hurt the feelings of: Their callous treatment cut her to the quick.
—adv.
- quickly.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.