fast

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

v. i. starve, diet, abstain. See asceticism. —adj. swift, speedy, fleet, quick, rapid; secure, firm, permanent, steadfast, profound; wild, rakish, dissipated. See velocity, junction, impurity, tenacity, fashion. Ant., gorge [oneself].

II

(Roget's IV) modif.

1. [Rapid]

Syn. swift, fleet, quick, speedy, brisk, flying, expeditious, express, accelerated, hasty, nimble, winged, mercurial, lightninglike, flashing, swift-footed, hypersonic, high-speed, active, electric, agile, ready, dashing, swift as an arrow, quick as lightning, like a flash, quick as thought, racing, fleeting, up-tempo, hurried, precipitate, breakneck, headlong, like a bat out of hell*, lickety-split*, like a house afire*, hellbent*, on the double*, at warp speed*.

Ant. slow*, sluggish, tardy.

2. [Firmly fixed]

Syn. secure, attached, immovable; see firm 1 .

3. [Promiscuous]

Syn. wanton, loose, wild, flirtatious; see lewd 2 .

4. [Permanent in color]

Syn. fadeproof, colorfast, durable, lasting, washable, vat-dyed, indelible, waterproof, fade-resistant.

• play fast and loose (with)*,

Syn. behave recklessly, run wild, be careless; see deceive , misbehave .

n.

Syn. abstinence, fast day, Lent, Ramadan, Yom Kippur, banyan day, Xerophagy, anorexia, hunger strike.

Syn.- fast and rapid are generally interchangeable in expressing the idea of a relatively high rate of movement or action, but fast more often refers to the person or thing that moves or acts, and rapid to the action [ a fast typist, rapid transcription ] ; swift implies Great rapidity, but in addition often connotes smooth, easy movement; fleet suggests a nimbleness or lightness in that which moves swiftly; quick implies promptness of action, or occurrence in a brief amount of time, rather than velocity [ a quick reply ] ; speedy intensifies the idea of quickness, but may also connote high velocity [ a speedy recovery, a speedy flight ] ; hasty suggests hurried action and may connote carelessness, rashness, or impatience v.

Syn. abstain from food, forbear eating, not eat, go hungry, starve, observe a fast, diet.

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

v.

abstain, go hungry, refrain, starve, diet.

II

a.

1. quick rapid, swift, fleet, speedy, hasty, *snappy, *flying, *quicker than greased lightning, *breakneck, *in a heartbeat, *lickety-split, expeditious, instantaneous, brisk, supersonic, hypersonic, meteoric.

2. fixed firm, stuck, unmovable, fastened, tight, secure, permanent, staunch, inextricable, steady, fortified.

3. wild reckless, dissipated, loose, promiscuous, immoral, devil-may-care, lascivious, licentious, intemperate, unrestrained.

ANT.: 1. slow, leisurely, sluggish, slothlike. 2. movable, temporary, insecure. 3. moral, chaste, virtuous, celibate

III

adv.

1. quickly rapidly, swiftly, speedily, hastily, expeditiously, instantly, briskly, *in a flash, *in a heartbeat, *in short order, supersonically, hypersonically.

2. firmly fixedly, securely, tight, solidly, steadfastly.

ANT.: 1. slowly, slothfully, leisurely. 2. loosely, insecurely

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I adjective 1. Characterized by great celerity: breakneck, expeditious, fleet, quick, rapid, speedy, swift. Informal: hell-for-leather. Idiom: quick as a bunny (or wink). See FAST. 2. Accomplished in very little time: brief, expeditious, flying, hasty, hurried, quick, rapid, short, speedy, swift. See FAST. 3. Lacking in moral restraint: abandoned, dissipated, dissolute, gay, incontinent, licentious, profligate, rakish, unbridled, unconstrained, uncontrolled, ungoverned, uninhibited, unrestrained, wanton, wild. See RESTRAINT. 4. Marked by an absence of conventional restraint in sexual behavior; sexually unrestrained: easy, libertine, light2, loose, wanton, whorish. See SEX. 5. Permanently resistive to, fading: colorfast, indelible. See CONTINUE. 6. Persistently holding to something: clinging, firm1, secure, tenacious, tight. See FREE, TIGHTEN. 7. Firmly settled or positioned: firm1, secure, stable, steady, strong, sure. See CONTINUE. 8. Adhering firmly and devotedly, as to a person, a cause, or a duty: allegiant, constant, faithful, firm1, liege, loyal, staunch, steadfast, true. See CONTINUE, TRUST. II adverb In a rapid way: apace, posthaste, quick, quickly. Informal: flat out, hell-for-leather, lickety-split, pronto. Idioms: full tilt, in a flash, in nothing flat, like a bat out of hell, like a blue streak, like a flash, like a house on fire, like a shot, like a streak, like greased lightning, like the wind, like wildfire. See FAST.