Fastest

2 definitions found

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 WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  fastest
       adv : most quickly [syn: {quickest}]