Fast

11 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Fast \Fast\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Fasted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Fasting}.] [AS. f[ae]stan; akin to D. vasten, OHG.
     fast[=e]n, G. fasten, Icel. & Sw. fasta, Dan. faste, Goth.
     fastan to keep, observe, fast, and prob. to E. fast firm.]
     1. To abstain from food; to omit to take nourishment in whole
        or in part; to go hungry.


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              Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked.
                                                    --Milton.
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     2. To practice abstinence as a religious exercise or duty; to
        abstain from food voluntarily for a time, for the
        mortification of the body or appetites, or as a token of
        grief, or humiliation and penitence.
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              Thou didst fast and weep for the child. --2 Sam.
                                                    xii. 21.
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     {Fasting day}, a fast day; a day of fasting.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Fast \Fast\, a. [Compar. {Faster}; superl. {Fastest}.] [OE.,
     firm, strong, not loose, AS. f[ae]st; akin to OS. fast, D.
     vast, OHG. fasti, festi, G. fest, Icel. fastr, Sw. & Dan.
     fast, and perh. to E. fetter. The sense swift comes from the
     idea of keeping close to what is pursued; a Scandinavian use.
     Cf. {Fast}, adv., {Fast}, v., {Avast}.]
     1. Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose,
        unstable, or easily moved; immovable; as, to make fast the
        door.
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              There is an order that keeps things fast. --Burke.
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     2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art;
        impregnable; strong.
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              Outlaws . . . lurking in woods and fast places.
                                                    --Spenser.
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     3. Firm in adherence; steadfast; not easily separated or
        alienated; faithful; as, a fast friend.
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     4. Permanent; not liable to fade by exposure to air or by
        washing; durable; lasting; as, fast colors.
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     5. Tenacious; retentive. [Obs.]
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              Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their
              smells.                               --Bacon.
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     6. Not easily disturbed or broken; deep; sound.
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              All this while in a most fast sleep.  --Shak.
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     7. Moving rapidly; quick in mition; rapid; swift; as, a fast
        horse.
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     8. Given to pleasure seeking; disregardful of restraint;
        reckless; wild; dissipated; dissolute; as, a fast man; a
        fast liver. --Thackeray.
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     9. In such a condition, as to resilience, etc., as to make
        possible unusual rapidity of play or action; as, a fast
        racket, or tennis court; a fast track; a fast billiard
        table, etc.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     {Fast and loose}, now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant,
        esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose, to play
        fast and loose, to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy
        or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another.
        "Play fast and loose with faith." --Shak.
  
     {Fast and loose pulleys} (Mach.), two pulleys placed side by
        side on a revolving shaft, which is driven from another
        shaft by a band, and arranged to disengage and re["e]ngage
        the machinery driven thereby. When the machinery is to be
        stopped, the band is transferred from the pulley fixed to
        the shaft to the pulley which revolves freely upon it, and
        vice versa.
  
     {Hard and fast} (Naut.), so completely aground as to be
        immovable.
  
     {To make fast} (Naut.), to make secure; to fasten firmly, as
        a vessel, a rope, or a door.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Fast \Fast\, n. [OE. faste, fast; cf. AS. f[ae]sten, OHG. fasta,
     G. faste. See {Fast}, v. i.]
     1. Abstinence from food; omission to take nourishment.
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              Surfeit is the father of much fast.   --Shak.
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     2. Voluntary abstinence from food, for a space of time, as a
        spiritual discipline, or as a token of religious
        humiliation.
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     3. A time of fasting, whether a day, week, or longer time; a
        period of abstinence from food or certain kinds of food;
        as, an annual fast.
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     {Fast day}, a day appointed for fasting, humiliation, and
        religious offices as a means of invoking the favor of God.
        
  
     {To break one's fast}, to put an end to a period of
        abstinence by taking food; especially, to take one's
        morning meal; to breakfast. --Shak.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Fast \Fast\, n.
     That which fastens or holds; especially, (Naut.) a mooring
     rope, hawser, or chain; -- called, according to its position,
     a bow, head, quarter, breast, or stern fast; also, a post on
     a pier around which hawsers are passed in mooring.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Fast \Fast\, adv. [OE. faste firmly, strongly, quickly, AS.
     f[ae]ste. See {Fast}, a.]
     1. In a fast, fixed, or firmly established manner; fixedly;
        firmly; immovably.
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              We will bind thee fast.               --Judg. xv.
                                                    13.
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     2. In a fast or rapid manner; quickly; swiftly;
        extravagantly; wildly; as, to run fast; to live fast.
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     {Fast by}, or {Fast beside}, close or near to; near at hand.
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              He, after Eve seduced, unminded slunk
              Into the wood fast by.                --Milton.
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              Fast by the throne obsequious Fame resides. --Pope.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  fast
       adj 1: acting or moving or capable of acting or moving quickly;
              "fast film"; "on the fast track in school"; "set a
              fast pace"; "a fast car" [ant: {slow}]
       2: (used of timepieces) indicating a time ahead of or later
          than the correct time; "my watch is fast" [ant: {slow}]
       3: at a rapid tempo; "the band played a fast fox trot" [ant: {slow}]
       4: (of surfaces) conducive to rapid speeds; "a fast road";
          "grass courts are faster than clay"
       5: firmly fastened or secured against opening; "windows and
          doors were all fast"; "a locked closet"; "left the house
          properly secured" [syn: {barred}, {bolted}, {latched}, {locked},
           {secured}]
       6: resistant to destruction or fading; "fast colors"
       7: unrestrained by convention or morality; "Congreve draws a
          debauched aristocratic society"; "deplorably dissipated
          and degraded"; "riotous living"; "fast women" [syn: {debauched},
           {degenerate}, {degraded}, {dissipated}, {dissolute}, {libertine},
           {profligate}, {riotous}]
       8: hurried and brief; "paid a flying visit"; "took a flying
          glance at the book"; "a quick inspection"; "a fast visit"
          [syn: {flying}, {quick}]
       9: securely fixed in place; "the post was still firm after
          being hit by the car" [syn: {firm}, {immobile}]
       10: unwavering in devotion to friend or vow or cause; "a firm
           ally"; "loyal supporters"; "the true-hearted soldier...of
           Tippecanoe"- Campaign song for William Henry Harrison;
           "fast friends" [syn: {firm}, {loyal}, {truehearted}, {fast(a)}]
       n : abstaining from food [syn: {fasting}]
       adv 1: quickly or rapidly (often used as a combining form); "how
              fast can he get here?"; "ran as fast as he could";
              "needs medical help fast"; "fast-running rivers";
              "fast-breaking news"; "fast-opening (or fast-closing)
              shutters"
       2: firmly or tightly; "held fast to the rope"; "her foot was
          stuck fast"; "held tight" [syn: {tight}]
       v 1: abstain from certain foods, as for religious or medical
            reasons; "Catholics sometimes fast during Lent"
       2: abstain from eating; "Before the medical exam, you must
          fast"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  349 Moby Thesaurus words for "fast":
     Barmecidal feast, Encratism, Friday, Lenten diet,
     Lenten entertainment, Lenten fare, Pythagoreanism, Pythagorism,
     Rechabitism, Sabbath, Shakerism, Spartan fare, Stoicism, Sunday,
     abandoned, abstain, abstainment, abstemiousness, abstention,
     abstinence, accelerated, active, agile, aground, airtight, alert,
     amain, anchored, apace, ardent, asceticism, at flank speed,
     attached, avoidance, balanced, banyan day, bare subsistence,
     bonded, bound, bread and water, breakneck, brief, brisk, briskly,
     calculable, caught, celibacy, cemented, chained, chastity, chronic,
     church calendar, close, close to, closely, colorfast, committed,
     compact, confirmed, connected, constant, continence, cool, dashing,
     debauched, dedicated, deep-dyed, deep-fixed, deep-rooted,
     deep-seated, deep-set, deep-settled, dependable, devoted, diet,
     dissipated, dissolute, dissolutely, double-dyed, double-quick,
     dustproof, dusttight, dyed-in-the-wool, eagle-winged,
     eat sparingly, ecclesiastical calendar, eschewal, established,
     expeditious, expeditiously, express, extravagant, extravagantly,
     fadeless, faithful, faithworthy, fastened, fasting, feast,
     fecklessly, fiducial, firm, firm as Gibraltar, firmly, fish day,
     fixed, fixedly, flat-out, fleet, flying, free, fruitarianism,
     full tilt, gallant, galloping, gasproof, gastight, gay, glued,
     go hungry, grounded, gymnosophy, hair-trigger, hand over fist,
     hand over hand, hastily, hasty, headlong, held, hell for leather,
     hell-bent, hell-bent for election, hermetic, hermetically sealed,
     high and dry, high-speed, holy day, holytide, hurried, hurriedly,
     hustling, immediately, immoral, immovable, immovably, impacted,
     imperturbable, implanted, in a flash, in a twinkling, in a wink,
     in double time, in double-quick time, in equilibrium, in high,
     in high gear, in nothing flat, in seven-league boots,
     in short order, incorrigible, inculcated, indecorous, indecorously,
     indelible, inextricable, infixed, ingrain, ingrained, inseparably,
     instilled, intemperate, intemperately, inveterate, invincible,
     irresponsible, irreversible, jammed, keen, lack of food, lasting,
     lecherous, lecherously, licentious, licentiously, lickety-cut,
     lickety-split, liege, light of heel, light-footed, lightproof,
     lighttight, like a flash, like a shot, like wildfire, lively,
     long-established, loose, loosely, loyal, lustful, lustfully,
     meager diet, mercurial, moored, near, nephalism, nimble,
     nimble-footed, not eat, of easy virtue, oilproof, oiltight,
     on the double, packed, permanent, plain living, post, posthaste,
     precipitate, predictable, presto, profligate, promiscuous,
     promiscuously, prompt, promptly, pronto, quick, quick as lightning,
     quick as thought, quickly, rainproof, raintight, rakehell,
     rakehellish, rakehelly, raking, rakish, rapid, rapidly, reckless,
     recklessly, refraining, refrainment, reliable, resolute, right,
     rooted, running, sealed, secure, secured, securely, self-denial,
     self-indulgent, set, settled, settled in habit, sexual abstinence,
     short commons, shut fast, simple diet, smokeproof, smoketight,
     snappily, snappy, snug, solid, solidly, soon, sound, soundly,
     spanking, spare diet, speedily, speedy, stable, starvation diet,
     staunch, steadfast, steadfastly, steady, stormproof, stormtight,
     stranded, strong, stuck, stuck fast, substantial, sure, surefire,
     swift, swiftly, sybaritic, sybaritically, taped, teetotalism,
     tested, tethered, the pledge, thorough, tied, tight, tightly,
     total abstinence, transfixed, tried, tried and true, trippingly,
     true, trustworthy, trusty, unbridled, under forced draft, unfading,
     unfailing, unflappable, unflinching, unrestrained, unrestrainedly,
     unshakable, unshakably, unshakeable, unshakeably, unwavering,
     vegetarianism, wanton, wantonly, water-repellant, waterproof,
     watertight, wedged, well-balanced, well-founded, well-grounded,
     whip and spur, wild, wildly, windproof, windtight, winged,
     with all haste, with all speed, with giant strides,
     with rapid strides, with speed, without nerves, xerophagia,
     xerophagy
  
  

From Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002) [vera]:

  FAST
       First Application System Test
       
       

From Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002) [vera]:

  FAST
       Forschungsinstitut fuer Angewandte Software-Technologie [e.v.] (org.)
       
       

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  FAST
       
          1.  {Federation Against Software Theft}.
       
          2.  {Fortran Automatic Symbol Translator}.
       
          (1996-05-19)
       
       

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Fast
     The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great
     Day of Atonement (q.v.), Lev. 23:26-32. It is called "the fast"
     (Acts 27:9).
     
       The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old
     Testament is in Zech. 7:1-7; 8:19, from which it appears that
     during their captivity the Jews observed four annual fasts.
     
       (1.) The fast of the fourth month, kept on the seventeenth day
     of Tammuz, the anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem by the
     Chaldeans; to commemorate also the incident recorded Ex. 32:19.
     (Comp. Jer. 52:6, 7.)
     
       (2.) The fast of the fifth month, kept on the ninth of Ab
     (comp. Num. 14:27), to commemorate the burning of the city and
     temple (Jer. 52:12, 13).
     
       (3.) The fast of the seventh month, kept on the third of Tisri
     (comp. 2 Kings 25), the anniversary of the murder of Gedaliah
     (Jer. 41:1, 2).
     
       (4.) The fast of the tenth month (comp. Jer. 52:4; Ezek.
     33:21; 2 Kings 25:1), to commemorate the beginning of the siege
     of the holy city by Nebuchadnezzar.
     
       There was in addition to these the fast appointed by Esther
     (4:16).
     
       Public national fasts on account of sin or to supplicate
     divine favour were sometimes held. (1.) 1 Sam. 7:6; (2.) 2 Chr.
     20:3; (3.) Jer. 36:6-10; (4.) Neh. 9:1.
     
       There were also local fasts. (1.) Judg. 20:26; (2.) 2 Sam.
     1:12; (3.) 1 Sam. 31:13; (4.) 1 Kings 21:9-12; (5.) Ezra
     8:21-23: (6.) Jonah 3:5-9.
     
       There are many instances of private occasional fasting (1 Sam.
     1:7: 20:34; 2 Sam. 3:35; 12:16; 1 Kings 21:27; Ezra 10:6; Neh.
     1:4; Dan. 10:2,3). Moses fasted forty days (Ex. 24:18; 34:28),
     and so also did Elijah (1 Kings 19:8). Our Lord fasted forty
     days in the wilderness (Matt. 4:2).
     
       In the lapse of time the practice of fasting was lamentably
     abused (Isa. 58:4; Jer. 14:12; Zech. 7:5). Our Lord rebuked the
     Pharisees for their hypocritical pretences in fasting (Matt.
     6:16). He himself appointed no fast. The early Christians,
     however, observed the ordinary fasts according to the law of
     their fathers (Acts 13:3; 14:23; 2 Cor. 6:5).