fast 
speed : as, a fast horse ; a fast cruiser ; a fast 
printing-press. 
The old Lapp woman, Elsa, who had been sent for, drove 
up in herpulk, behind a fust reindeer. 
B. Taylor, Northern Travel, p. 108. 
2. Done or accomplished with celerity; speed- 
ily performed; occupying comparatively lit- 
tle time: as, &fast passage or journey; a, fast 
race; fast work. 3. Being in advance of a 
standard ; too far ahead : used of timepieces 
and reckonings of time : as, the clock or watch 
is fast, or ten minutes fast ; your time is fast. 
Mean time ... is given in most calendars and alma* 
nacs, frequently under the headings " clock slow," " clock 
fast." Enajc. Brit., VII. 154. 
4. Furnishing or concerned with rapid trans- 
portation: as, a fast train ; a/a-freight line; 
a/os<route; a fast station. 
As it was not a "fast " station, we were subject to the 
possibility of waiting two or three hours for horses. 
B. Taylor, Northern Travel, p. 245. 
5. Eager in the pursuit of pleasure or frivolity ; 
devoted to pleasure and gayety; dissipated: 
as, a/siliver; a fast man; & fast life. When 
applied to a woman, it commonly indicates that she does 
not abide by strict rules of propriety, imitates the man- 
ners or habits of a man, etc. 
Catullus . . . was the most brilliant fast man of an* 
tiquity, and can be compared to nothing but Apollo out on 
the loose. llannay, Singleton Foutenoy, i. 4. 
A fast young woman, with the lavish ornament and 
somewhat overpowering perfume of the demi-monde. 
Lowell, Study Windows, p. 212. 
A fast man is not necessarily (like the London fast man) 
a rowing man, though the two attributes are often com- 
bined in the same person ; he is one who dresses flash- 
ily, talks big, and spends, or affects to spend, money very 
freely. C. A. Bristed, English University, p. 39. 
Oh, there is &fast enough life at some of the hotels in 
the summer. C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 333. 
Fast freight, freight or merchandise forwarded at once 
and with special haste. 
fast-'t (fast), v. t. [ME. fasten; < fas ft, adv.'] 
To hasten^ 
He preiede her infante her for his sake. 
Chaucer, Complaint of Mars, 1. 56. 
fast 3 (fast), v. i. [< WE. fasten, festen, < AS. fas- 
tan = OFries. festia ='D. fasten = OHG. fas- 
ten, MHG. fasten, G. fasten = Icel. fasta = Sw. 
fasta = Dan. faste = Goth, fastan, fast, ab- 
stain from food, L. jejtmare. It is not clear 
thai fast in this sense is identical with/as* 1 , v., 
make fast, etc. The forms are alike only in 
Goth. ; cf. Goth, fastan, keep, observe, fastub- 
ni, a keeping, observance, with fastan, fast, 
fastubni, a fast. So ML. obscrvare, lit. keep, 
observe, is found equiv. to abstinere, abstain, 
fast. It is not unlikely that Goth, fastan, keep, 
observe, is a different word from fast^, make 
fast ; there is no Goth. adj. "fasts = E. fasfl, a., 
to support it.] 1. To abstain from food be- 
yond the usual time; omit to take nourishment: 
go hungry. 
Thei fasten an hool Monethc in the geer, and eten 
noughte but be nyghte. llandeville. Travels, p. 134. 
Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked. 
Milton, P. R., ii. 284. 
2. To abstain from food, or from particular 
kinds of food, voluntarily, for the mortification 
of the body, as a religious duty. See/os< 3 , n., 
and fast-day. 
When ye fatt, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad coun- 
tenance. Mat. vi. 16. 
That reverend British Saint . . . 
... did so truly fast, 
As he did only drink what crystal Hodney yields, 
And fed upon the Leeks he gather'd in the fields. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, iv. 228. 
Samuel chuseth this [Mizpah] as the fittest place for 
them to fast and pray, and confess their sins in. 
Stillingjleet, Sermons, II. iv. 
Mortify 
2150 
will be seen that /asf 3 , like Lent, has lost the 
final syllable -e.] 1. A state of fasting; ab- 
stinence from food ; omission to take nourish- 
ment. 
As surfeit is the father of miich.M.< 
So every scope, by the immoderate use, 
Turns to restraint. Shak., M. for M., i. 3. 
I will eat 
With all the passion of a twelve hours' .fust. 
1'. ,< nu<"n. <;eraint. 
2. Voluntary abstinence from food, as a reli- 
gious penance or discipline, as a means of pro- 
pitiation, or as an expression of grief under af- 
fliction present or prospective. Roman Catholic 
theologians distinguish between natural and ecclesiastical 
fasts. In the former, which are required of those who 
are about to communicate, there is a total abstinence 
from all food and drink ; the latter imposes certain lim- 
its and restrictions as regards both the kind and the quan- 
tity of the food. 
Spare Fast, that oft with gods doth diet. 
Milton, II Penseroso, 1. 46. 
Still rebel nature holds out half my heart ; 
Nor prayers nor fasts its stubborn pulse restrain. 
Pope, Eloisa to Abelard, 1. 27. 
To prayer and praise 
She gave herself, to fast and alms. 
Tennyson, Holy Grail. 
3. A time of fasting; the prescribed period or 
duration of abstinence. The only fast ordained by the 
Mosaic law was that of the day of atonement ; but other 
fasts were subsequently instituted on account of great na- 
tional calamities, and special fasts also were appointed 
on account of special impending peril. In the Roman 
Catholic Church all baptized persons over twenty-one 
years of age are required to observe appointed days of 
fasting, on which, subject to certain exceptions and ex- 
emptions, as the requirements of health, they are required 
not to eat more than one full meal. These days include 
the forty days of Lent, the ember-days, the Fridays of the 
four weeks of Advent, and the vigils of Pentecost or Whit- 
Sunday, of the feast* of St. Peter and St. Paul, of the As- 
sumption of the Virgin Mary, of All Saints, and of Christ- 
mas day. All Fridays not fast-days are days of abstinence. 
(See fast-day, 1.) In the Greek Church, in addition to the 
forty days of Lent, there are three principal fasts, each 
lasting a week : (1) that of the Holy Spirit, immediately 
after Pentecost; (2) that of the Virgin, in August; and (3) 
that of the Nativity. In the Episcopal Church, Ash Wed- 
nesday and Good Friday are fasts ; Lent, the ember-days, 
the three rogation-days, and all Fridays are only days of 
abstinence. 
The fast of the fourth month, . . and the fast of the 
tenth shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, 
and cheerful feasts. Zech. viii. 19. 
The fast was now already past. 
Acts xxvii. 9. 
Your flesh, like me, with scourges and with thorns; 
Smite, shrink not, spare not. If it may be, fast 
Whole Lents, and pray. Tennyson, 3t. Simeon Stylites. 
To fast on a debtor or dependent, anciently, in Ire- 
land, to wait for a certain time at his residence without 
food, as a preliminary to levying upon his goods, when the 
debtor was of a rank higher than the creditor. 
In certain cases, as for instance where the defendant 
was a Rig, the plaintiff was obliged to fast upon him, 
after he had given him his summons or Fasc, and before 
he made his distress. 
IF. K. Sullioan, Introd. to O'Curry's Anc. Irish, p. 
[cclxxxiii. 
fast 3 (fast), . [< ME. fast, faste, shorter form 
(as in Scand., etc.) of fasten, festen, < AS. fas- 
ten = OS. fastunnia (once fasta, in dat. fastun) 
= D. vaste, fast, Lent, = OFries. festa = OHG. 
fasta, fasto, MHG. vaste, fasten, G. fasten = 
Icel. fasta = Sw. fasta = Dan. faste = Goth. 
fastubni, a fast, < fastan, fast: aeefast 3 , v. It 
To begin with that which bred in the Church a misera- 
ble schism for many years together, the Easter fast: was 
it always and in every place uniformly observed ? 
Calfhill, Answer to Martiall, p. 269. 
Fast Of Ramadan. See Ramadan. Nlnevlte fast, a 
fast of three days, observed in the Abyssinian Church dur- 
ing July, and among the Eastern Syrians during the three 
successive weeks previous to Lent. To break fast, or 
one's fast. See break. 
fast-day (fast'da), . [< ME. "festen-dag (spelled 
vestendawe, Ancren Riwle), < AS. faesten-dceg (= 
D. vastendag = Gr.fasttag = Dan. Sw.fastedag), 
< fasten, fast, + da>g, day.] 1. A day on which 
fasting is observed ; specifically, a day appoint- 
ed for fasting as a religious observance by some 
recognized authority, ecclesiastical or civil ; in 
the most restricted ecclesiastical sense, a day 
on which, or on part of which, total abstinence 
from food is prescribed, in contradistinction to 
a day on which a limitation is imposed on the 
kind or quantity of food to be taken, called a 
day of abstinence. See fasft, n. in some of the 
United States, especially in New England, special days 
of fasting and prayer are appointed by the governor of 
the State, a custom derived from the original Puritan 
settlers. 
The Pilgrims found it written, "They that sow in tears 
shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bear- 
ing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoi- 
cing, bringinghis sheaves with him." This beautiful poetry 
was translated into the policy of the Pilgrims by estab- 
lishinga Fast-day in March or April, and a Day of Thanks- 
giving in November. Thus the whole people were to pass 
through the two gates of the year, Tears and Smiles, and 
observe them as Holy Days, all other profane and mis- 
leading festivities Christmas, New Year's, and Saint's 
days without number being laid aside. 
H. W. Beecher, Norwood, xlix. 
2. In Scotland, a day set apart for humiliation 
and prayer ; specifically, a day thus observed 
during the week immediately preceding certain 
celebrations of the Lord's supper. Business is 
generally suspended during these fast-days. Formerly 
their observance on fixed half-yearly or yearly dates, dif- 
fering for different localities, was universal ; but the grow- 
ing tendency to make them mere holidays has led to their 
abolition in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and elsewhere. 
fasten 1 (fas'n), v. [< ME. fastnen, fastnien, 
usually festnen, festnifn, < AS. fa:s tn ian, fasten, 
confirm (= OS.fastndn = OFries. festna = OHG. 
festinon, MHG. festenen, G. fesinen, fasten, = 
Icel. festna, pledge, betroth, = Sw.fastna, intr., 
stick, hitch, ground, = D&n.fastne, consolidate), 
fastens 
with verb formative -n, E. -cl (3), <A8.f<rt, 
I'd-., fast, fixed: see fosft, a., and fasti, r . t.J 
1. trans. 1. To make fast; cause to adlitTc: 
join, connect, or attach firmly; fix or sei-mc 
in place or position by any physical means: as. 
to fasten a door with a lock, bolt, or chain; to 
fasten boards together with nails or screws, or 
by mortise and tenon ; to fasten clothing with 
buttons, pins, clasps, etc. 
ThiTu arose all the rowte, as thai rede toke, . . . 
Caste ancres full kene with cables to ground ; 
festonit the tlete, as horn fayre tboght. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2849. 
He was brought to Mount Caucasus, and there fastened 
to a pillar. Bacon, Physical Fables, ii. 
2. Figuratively, to attach or unite by any con- 
necting link or agency ; connect or join firmly 
in general : as, to fasten a nickname or a charge 
upon one ; to fasten one's hop*e on a promise. 
This name ihesu, .fastne it so fast in thin herte that it 
come neuere out of thi tbougt. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 40. 
But her sad eyes, still fastened on the ground, 
Are governed with goodly modesty. 
Spenser, Epithalamion, 1. 235. 
Those that are equal), salute when they meet each oth- 
er with a imituiill kisse ; which is fastened on the cheeke 
onely, if they be of unequall degree. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 370. 
The words Whig and Tory have been pressed to the ser- 
vice of many successions of parties, with very different 
ideas fastened to them. Xu'ift, Examiner. 
What, if she )>efasten'd to this fool lord, 
Dare I bid her abide by her word ? 
Tennyson, Maud, xvi. 2. 
3. To make firm or stable ; establish ; confirm ; 
clench: as, to fasten a bargain. 
Hit [a truce] wu/Mfcntt with faithe, * with fyn othes, 
On I ioth, halues to hold holly [wholly] assentid. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 8375. 
4f. To lay on ; cause to reach. 
Could lie fasten a blow, or make a thrust, when not suf- 
fered to approach? Drifden, Ded. to tr. of Virgil. 
Syn 1 and 2. To bind, attach, tie, link, affix, annex. 
II. intrans. If. To become fast or fixed ; be- 
come attached or firmly joined ; close firmly. 
The Damzell well did vew his Personage 
And liked well, ne further fastnfd not, 
But went her way. Spenser, F. Q., III. ii. 26. 
WUdb. A pretty girl ; did not old Algripe love her? 
A very pretty girl she was. 
Lure. Some such thing ; 
But he was too wise to fasten. 
Fletcher and Shirley, Night- Walker, i. 1. 
2. To take firm hold ; cling: generally with on. 
When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid 
them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and 
fastened on his hand. Acts xxviii. 3. 
With his strong arms 
flefasterid on my neck. Shak., Lear, v. S. 
We are now (by God's providence) like to fasten upon a 
godly man, one Mr. Lea, a curate at Denston in Suffolk. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 415. 
fasten 2 !, n. A Middle English form of fast*. 
fasten-een (fas'ten-en), n. Same as fastens. 
[North. Eng. and Scotch.] 
On Fasten-e'en we had a rockin' 
To ca' the crack [chat] and weave our stockin' ! 
And there was muckle fun and jokin', 
Ye need na doubt. 
Burns, First Epistle to John Lapraik. 
fastener (fas'ner), n. 1. One who or that 
which makes fast or firm; one who fastens; 
specifically, something used for fastening and 
unfastening, as in dress, or for making fast or 
fixed, as a mordant in dyeing. 
His dinner is his other work, for he sweats at it as at 
his labour ; he is a terrible fastner on a piece of beef. 
Bp. Earlf, Miuro-cosmographie, A Country Fellow. 
The modified Galipoli oil acts therefore ... as fas- 
tener of the red lake. 
W. Crookes, Dyeing and Calico-printing, p. 323. 
2. A warrant. Grose; Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
fastening (fas'ning), n. [< ME. fastnyng, fest- 
nintj, confirmation, also a fastness, < AS.jfeste- 
ntino, a fastening, verbal n. of ftrstnian, fasten : 
see/nstej! 1 .] 1. Anything that binds and makes 
fast, or serves for joining or securing, as a lock, 
catch, bolt, bar, cord, chain, clasp, button, 
hook, etc. 
And Enid, ... at his side all pale 
Dismounting, loosed the fastenings of his arms. 
Tennyson, Geraint. 
2f. Fixedness; firmness. 
The congruent, and harmonious flttinpr of parts in a 
sentence, hath almost the/asfm'iw, and force of knitting, 
and connexion: as in stones well squared, which will rise 
strong a great way without mortar. 
B. Jonson, Discoveries. 
fastens (fas'tenz), n. [E. dial., also fassens, 
short for fastens-eve (Sc. fasterns-een), Fastens 
Tuesday ; fastens being prop. poss. of fasten, 
