Quick (?), 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.
Not fully quyke, ne fully dead they
were.
Chaucer.
The Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick
and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.
2 Tim.
iv. 1.
Man is no star, but a quick coal
Of mortal fire.
Herbert.
&fist; In this sense the word is nearly obsolete, except in some
compounds, or in particular phrases.
2. Characterized by life or liveliness;
animated; sprightly; agile; brisk; ready. " A quick wit."
Shak.
3. Speedy; hasty; swift; not slow; as, be
quick.
Oft he her his charge of quick return
Repeated.
Milton.
4. Impatient; passionate; hasty; eager; eager;
sharp; unceremonious; as, a quick temper.
The bishop was somewhat quick with them, and
signified that he was much offended.
Latimer.
5. Fresh; bracing; sharp; keen.
The air is quick there,
And it pierces and sharpens the stomach.
Shak.
6. Sensitive; perceptive in a high degree;
ready; as, a quick ear. "To have an open ear, a
quick eye." Shak.
They say that women are so quick.
Tennyson.
7. Pregnant; with child.
Shak.
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.
Syn. -- Speedy; expeditious; swift; rapid; hasty; prompt;
ready; active; brisk; nimble; fleet; alert; agile; lively;
sprightly.
Quick (?), adv. In a quick manner;
quickly; promptly; rapidly; with haste; speedily; without delay; as,
run quick; get back quick.
If we consider how very quick the actions of the
mind are performed.
Locke.
Quick, 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.
The works . . . are curiously hedged with
quick.
Evelyn.
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.
This test nippeth, . . . this toucheth the
quick.
Latimer.
How feebly and unlike themselves they reason when they
come to the quick of the difference !
Fuller.
3. (Bot.) Quitch grass.
Tennyson.
Quick, v. t. & i. [See Quicken.]
To revive; to quicken; to be or become alive. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
