English Dictionary

QUICKEN

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

IPA (US): 

 Dictionary entry overview: What does quicken mean? 

QUICKEN (verb)
  The verb QUICKEN has 5 senses:

1. move fasterplay

2. make keen or more acuteplay

3. give life or energy toplay

4. show signs of lifeplay

5. give new life or energy toplay

  Familiarity information: QUICKEN used as a verb is common.


 Dictionary entry details 


QUICKEN (verb)

 Conjugation: 
Present simple: I / you / we / they quicken  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation ... he / she / it quickens  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
Past simple: quickened  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
Past participle: quickened  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
-ing form: quickening  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation


Sense 1

Meaning:

Move faster

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

accelerate; quicken; speed; speed up

Context example:

The car accelerated

Hypernyms (to "quicken" is one way to...):

deepen; intensify (become more intense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "quicken"):

brisk; brisk up; brisken (become brisk)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

quickening (the act of accelerating; increasing the speed)


Sense 2

Meaning:

Make keen or more acute

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

quicken; whet

Context example:

whet my appetite

Hypernyms (to "quicken" is one way to...):

excite; stimulate; stir (stir feelings in)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something


Sense 3

Meaning:

Give life or energy to

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

invigorate; quicken

Context example:

The cold water invigorated him

Hypernyms (to "quicken" is one way to...):

excite; stimulate (act as a stimulant)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

quickener (an agent that gives or restores life or vigor)


Sense 4

Meaning:

Show signs of life

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

the fetus quickened

Hypernyms (to "quicken" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

quickening (the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus)


Sense 5

Meaning:

Give new life or energy to

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

animate; quicken; reanimate; recreate; renovate; repair; revive; revivify; vivify

Context example:

This treatment repaired my health

Hypernyms (to "quicken" is one way to...):

arouse; brace; energise; energize; perk up; stimulate (cause to be alert and energetic)

Verb group:

come to; resuscitate; revive (return to consciousness)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

quickener (an agent that gives or restores life or vigor)


 Context examples 


It was designed only to express his participation in all that interested her, and to tell her that he had been hearing what quickened every feeling of affection.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

As she was telling her terrible story, the eastern sky began to quicken, and everything became more and more clear.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It was no longer in Emma's power to superintend his happiness or quicken his measures.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

I had never done more than glance at the house, as I went by with a quickened step.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I quickened my pace into a run.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Once Maud screamed in terror as a cow thrust an inquisitive nose toward her foot, and several times I quickened my pace for the same reason.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

These record setting years concern those who see this as a sure sign that climate change is happening at a quickened pace.

(World Meteorological Org.: Arctic Warming Appears Irreversible, VOA)

They quickened the old life within him, and the old tricks which they had stamped into the heredity of the breed were his tricks.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

"The eagerness of a listener quickens the tongue of a narrator."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She walked eagerly on as she spoke; and Elinor, to screen Marianne from particularity, as she felt almost certain of its not being Willoughby, quickened her pace and kept up with her.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"After a storm comes a calm." (English proverb)

"A danger foreseen is half-avoided." (Native American proverb, Cheyenne)

"Over a long distance, you learn about the strength of your horse; over a long time, you learn about the character of your friend." (Chinese proverb)

"It's not only cooks that wear long knives." (Dutch proverb)



ALSO IN ENGLISH DICTIONARY:


© 2000-2023 AudioEnglish.org | AudioEnglish® is a Registered Trademark | Terms of use and privacy policy
Contact