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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Fasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fasting. ] [ AS. fæstan; akin to D. vasten, OHG. fastēn, 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou didst fast and weep for the child. 2 Sam. xii. 21. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fasting day, a fast day; a day of fasting. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. faste, fast; cf. AS. fæsten, OHG. fasta, G. faste. See Fast, v. i. ] 1. Abstinence from food; omission to take nourishment. [ 1913 Webster ]

Surfeit is the father of much fast. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Voluntary abstinence from food, for a space of time, as a spiritual discipline, or as a token of religious humiliation. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ OE. faste firmly, strongly, quickly, AS. fæste. See Fast, a. ] 1. In a fast, fixed, or firmly established manner; fixedly; firmly; immovably. [ 1913 Webster ]

We will bind thee fast. Judg. xv. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In a fast or rapid manner; quickly; swiftly; extravagantly; wildly; as, to run fast; to live fast. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fast by, or
Fast beside, close or near to; near at hand. [ 1913 Webster ]

He, after Eve seduced, unminded slunk
Into the wood fast by. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fast by the throne obsequious Fame resides. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Baseball) a baseball thrown with maximum velocity.
Syn. -- heater, smoke, hummer, bullet. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (basketball) a rapid dash to get a shot at one's own basket as soon as possible after taking possession of the ball; -- often occurring after the opposing team has shot at their basket. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

v. i. To fix one's self; to take firm hold; to clinch; to cling. [ 1913 Webster ]

A horse leech will hardly fasten on a fish. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Fastened p. pr. & vb. n. Fastening ] [ AS. fæstnian; akin to OHG. festinōn. See Fast, a. ] 1. To fix firmly; to make fast; to secure, as by a knot, lock, bolt, etc.; as, to fasten a chain to the feet; to fasten a door or window. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cause to hold together or to something else; to attach or unite firmly; to cause to cleave to something , or to cleave together, by any means; as, to fasten boards together with nails or cords; to fasten anything in our thoughts. [ 1913 Webster ]

The words Whig and Tory have been pressed to the service of many successions of parties, with very different ideas fastened to them. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cause to take close effect; to make to tell; to lay on; as, to fasten a blow. [ Obs. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

If I can fasten but one cup upon him. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To fasten a charge upon or
To fasten a crime upon, to make his guilt certain, or so probable as to be generally believed. --
To fasten one's eyes upon, to look upon steadily without cessation. Acts iii. 4.

Syn. -- To fix; cement; stick; link; affix; annex. [ 1913 Webster ]