n. 1. That which is quick, or alive; a living animal or plant; especially, the hawthorn, or other plants used in making a living hedge. [ 1913 Webster ]

The works . . . are curiously hedged with quick. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The life; the mortal point; a vital part; a part susceptible of serious injury or keen feeling; the sensitive living flesh; the part of a finger or toe to which the nail is attached; the tender emotions; as, to cut a finger nail to the quick; to thrust a sword to the quick, to taunt one to the quick; -- used figuratively. [ 1913 Webster ]

This test nippeth, . . . this toucheth the quick. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

How feebly and unlike themselves they reason when they come to the quick of the difference ! Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) Quitch grass. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a quick manner; quickly; promptly; rapidly; with haste; speedily; without delay; as, run quick; get back quick. [ 1913 Webster ]

If we consider how very quick the actions of the mind are performed. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ See Quicken. ] To revive; to quicken; to be or become alive. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Quicker superl. Quickest. ] [ As. cwic, cwicu, cwucu, cucu, living; akin to OS. quik, D. kwik, OHG. quec, chec, G. keck bold, lively, Icel. kvikr living, Goth. qius, Lith. q&ymacr_;vas, Russ. zhivoi, L. vivus living, vivere to live, Gr. bi`os life, Skr. jīva living, jīv to live. Cf. Biography, Vivid, Quitch grass, Whitlow. ] 1. Alive; living; animate; -- opposed to dead or inanimate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not fully quyke, ne fully dead they were. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. 2 Tim. iv. 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

Man is no star, but a quick coal
Of mortal fire. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In this sense the word is nearly obsolete, except in some compounds, or in particular phrases. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Characterized by life or liveliness; animated; sprightly; agile; brisk; ready. “ A quick wit.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Speedy; hasty; swift; not slow; as, be quick. [ 1913 Webster ]

Oft he to her his charge of quick return
Repeated. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Impatient; passionate; hasty; eager; eager; sharp; unceremonious; as, a quick temper. [ 1913 Webster ]

The bishop was somewhat quick with them, and signified that he was much offended. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Fresh; bracing; sharp; keen. [ 1913 Webster ]

The air is quick there,
And it pierces and sharpens the stomach. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Sensitive; perceptive in a high degree; ready; as, a quick ear. “To have an open ear, a quick eye.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

They say that women are so quick. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Pregnant; with child. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Quick grass. (Bot.) See Quitch grass. --
Quick match. See under Match. --
Quick vein (Mining), a vein of ore which is productive, not barren. --
Quick vinegar, vinegar made by allowing a weak solution of alcohol to trickle slowly over shavings or other porous material. --
Quick water, quicksilver water. --
Quick with child, pregnant with a living child. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Speedy; expeditious; swift; rapid; hasty; prompt; ready; active; brisk; nimble; fleet; alert; agile; lively; sprightly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A.S. cwicbeám. ] See Quicken tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To come to life; to become alive; to become vivified or enlivened; hence, to exhibit signs of life; to move, as the fetus in the womb. [ 1913 Webster ]

The heart is the first part that quickens, and the last that dies. Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]

And keener lightnings quicken in her eye. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

When the pale and bloodless east began
To quicken to the sun. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To move with rapidity or activity; to become accelerated; as, his pulse quickened. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. quickened p. pr. & vb. n. Quickening. ] [ AS. cwician. See Quick, a. ] 1. To make alive; to vivify; to revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state; hence, to excite; to, stimulate; to incite. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like a fruitful garden without an hedge, that quickens the appetite to enjoy so tempting a prize. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make lively, active, or sprightly; to impart additional energy to; to stimulate; to make quick or rapid; to hasten; to accelerate; as, to quicken one's steps or thoughts; to quicken one's departure or speed. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Shipbuilding) To shorten the radius of (a curve); to make (a curve) sharper; as, to quicken the sheer, that is, to make its curve more pronounced. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To revive; resuscitate; animate; reinvigorate; vivify; refresh; stimulate; sharpen; incite; hasten; accelerate; expedite; dispatch; speed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, quickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act or process of making or of becoming quick. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Physiol.) The first motion of the fetus in the womb felt by the mother, occurring usually about the middle of the term of pregnancy. It has been popularly supposed to be due to the fetus becoming possessed of independent life. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) Quitch grass. [ 1913 Webster ]