quick-answered 
Ready in gibes, quick-answer 'd, saucy. 
Shak., Cymbeline, ill. 4. 161. 
quick-beam (kwik'bem), . The Old World 
mountain-ash or rowan. See mountain-ash. 
Also called quicken or quicken-tree. 
quicken 1 (kwik'n), v. [< late ME. quykenen ; < 
i/ii/i-k + -en 1 .] 1. intrans. 1. To become quick 
or alive ; receive life. 
Summer flies, . . . that quicken even with blowing. 
Shak., Othello, iv. 2. 67. 
2. To become quick or lively; become more 
active or sensitive. 
Sees by degrees a purer blush arise, 
And keener lightnings quicken in her eyes. 
Pope, R. of the L., 1. 144. 
3. To enter that state of pregnancy in which the 
child gives indications of life ; begin to mani- 
fest signs of life in the womb: said of the 
mother or the child. The motion of the fetus 
is first felt by the mother usually about the 
eighteenth week of pregnancy. 
II. trans. 1. To make quick or alive ; vivify; 
revive or resuscitate, as from death or an in- 
animate state. 
Yon hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and 
sins. Eph. ii. i. 
How a sound shall quicken content to bliss. 
Browning, By the Fireside. 
The idea of universal free labor was only a dormant bud, 
not to be quickened for many centuries. 
Bancroft, Hist U. 8., I. 127. 
2. To revive ; cheer ; reinvigorate ; refresh. 
Music and poesy use to quicken you. 
Shak., T. of the 8., t 1. 36. 
Wake ! our mirth begins to die ; 
Quicken it with tunes and wine. 
/' Jonson, Poetaster, iv. 3. 
3. To make quick or speedy; hasten; accel- 
erate : as, to quicken motion, speed, or flight. 
Who got his pension rug, 
Or quickened a reversion by a drug. 
Pope, Satires of Donne, Iv. 136. 
And we must quicken 
Our tardy pace in journeying Heavenward, 
As Israel did in journeying Canaan-ward. 
Longfellow, New Eng. Tragedies, p. 160. 
4. To sharpen ; give keener perception to ; 
stimulate; incite: as, to quicken the appetite 
or taste ; to quicken desires. 
To quicken minds in the pursuit of honour. 
B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, v. 3. 
The desire of fame hath been no inconsiderable motive 
to quicken you. Suift. 
When I speak of civilization, I mean those things that 
tend to develop the moral forces of Man, and not merely 
to quicken his aesthetic sensibility. 
Lowell, Oration, Harvard, Nov. 8, 1886. 
5. To work with yeast, ffalliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
= Syn. 3. To expedite, hurry, speed. 4. To excite, ani- 
mate. 
quicken 2 (kwik'n), n. [< quick + -en, used in- 
definitely. Cf. quick-grass &Tid quitch 2 .] 1. The 
couch- or quitch-grass, Agropyrum (Triticum) 
repens. Also quickens. [Prov. Eng.] 2. Same 
as qtiick-beam. 
quickener (kwik'ner), n. [< quicken 1 + -er 1 .] 
One who or that which quickens, revives, vivi- 
fies, or communicates life ; that which reinvig- 
orates ; something that accelerates motion or 
increases activity. 
Love and enmity, aversatlon, fear, and the like are no- 
table whetters and quickners of the spirit of life. 
Dr. H. More, Antidote against Atheism, II. xii. 12. 
quickening (kwik'ning), n. [< ME. quykening; 
verbal n. of quicken 1 , v.] 1. The act of re- 
viving or animating. Wyclif, Select Works (ed . 
Arnold), II. 99. 2. The time of pregnancy 
when the fetus is first felt to be quick. 
quicker (kwik'er), H. [< quick + -er 1 .] A quick- 
set hedge. Halliicell. [Prov. Eng.] 
quick-eyed (kwik'id), a. Having acute sight ; 
of keen and ready perception. 
Quick-eyed experience. Fletcher, Bonduca, iv. 3. 
quick-grass (kwik'gras), . [= Dan. kvikgries; 
as quick + grass. Cf. quicken*, quitch^.] Same 
as quitch-grass. 
quickhatch (kwik'hach), n. [Amer. Ind.] The 
American glutton, carcajou, or wolverene, G-ulo 
luscus. Also queequehatch. 
quick-hedge (kwik'hej), n. A live fence or 
hedge ; a quick. 
quick-in-hand, quick-in-the-hand (kwik'in- 
nand', kwik'in-the-hand'), n. The yellow bal- 
sam or touch-me-not, Jmpatiens Noli-tangere : 
so called from the sudden bursting of its cap- 
sule when handled. [Eng.] 
quicklime (kwik'lim), n. [< quick + lime 1 .] 
Calcium pxid, CaO ; burned lime ; lime not yet 
slaked with water. Quicklime is prepared by subject- 
4910 
ing chalk, limestone, or other natural calcium carbonate 
to intense heat, when carbonic acid, water, and any organic 
matter contained in the carbonate are driven off. It is 
a white amorphous infusible solid, which readily absorbs 
carbonic acid and water when exposed to the air. In 
contact with water, quicklime slakes, each molecule of the 
oxid combining with a molecule of water and forming 
calcium hydrate, Ca(OH)2, or slaked lime. It is most 
largely used in making mortar and cement, but has num- 
berless other uses in the arts. 
quickling (kwik'ling), n. [< quick + -ling 1 .] 
A young insect. Balliwcll. [Prov. Eng.] 
quickly (kwik'Ii), adv. [< ME. quykly, quic- 
liclie, cwicliche; < quick + -fy 2 .] 1. Speedily; 
with haste or celerity. 
Quickly he walked with pale face downward bent. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 169. 
2. Soon ; without delay. 
John Earl of Heynault had quickly enough of the King 
of France, and was soon after reconciled to his Brother 
King Edward. Baker, Chronicles, p. 118. 
quick-march (kwik'march), n. Same as quick- 
step. 
quick-match (kwik'mach), n. See match?. 
quickmire (kwik'mir), n. [ME. quick mire; < 
quick + mire 1 . Cf. quakemire, quagmire.] A 
quagmire. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
That al wagged his fleish, 
As a quick mire. 
Piers Plowman's Creed, 1. 449. 
quickness (kwik'nes), n. [< ME. quyknesse, 
cwicnesse; < quick + -ness.] 1. The state of 
being quick or alive ; vital power or principle. 
Touch it with thy celestial quickness. Herbert. 
All the energies seen in nature are ... but manifesta- 
tions of the essential life or quickness of matter. 
Pop. Sri. Mo., XXII. 168. 
2. Speed; velocity; celerity; rapidity: as, the 
quickness of motion. 
Hamlet, this deed . . . must send thee hence 
With fiery quickness. Shak, Hamlet, iv. 3. 45. 
3. Activity; briskness; promptness; readiness: 
as, the quickness of the imagination or wit. 
lohn Hoywood the Epigrammatist, who, for the myrth 
and quieknesse of his conceits more then for any good 
learning was in him, came to be well benefited by the 
king. Puttcnham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 49. 
With too much quickness ever to be taught ; 
With too much thinking to have common thought. 
Pope, Moral Essays, ii. 97. 
4. Acuteness; keenness; alertness. 
Would not quickness of sensation be an inconvenience to 
an animal that must lie still ? Locke. 
In early days the conscience has In most 
A quickness which in later life is lost. 
Cowper, Tirocinium, 1. 110. 
5. Sharpness; pungency; keenness. 
Then would he wish to see my sword, and feel 
The quickness of the edge. 
Beau, and Ft., Maid's Tragedy, i. 1. 
A few drops tinge, and add a pleasant quickness. 
Mortimer. 
=Syn. 2. Quiclniess, Fastness, Speed, Celerity, Swiftness, 
Fleetness, Rapidity, Velocity, haste, expedition, despatch, 
alertness, liveliness. Quickness is the generic term. Quick- 
ness, fastness, speed, and rapidity may have relation to time 
only, or to space passed through or over ; the others apply 
only to space. "Swift to hear," in Jas. i. 19, is a bold 
figure. Celerity is swift voluntary movement ; but we do 
not ordinarily speak of the movement* of an animal as 
having celerity. FUetness also is voluntary, and is applied 
to animals ; we may speak by figure of the fleetness of a 
yacht. The word suggests quickness In getting over the 
ground by the use of the feet : we speak of the swiftness 
or rapidity of the swallow's or the pigeon's flight ; the 
JUetness of Atalanta, a bound, a deer. Swiftness is pre- 
sumably not too great for carefulness or thoroughness ; 
rapidity may be too great for either, relocity is the attri- 
bute of matter in motion ; the word is especially a techni- 
cal term for the rate of movement of matter, whether fast 
or slow. We speak also of the velocity of sound or light. 
Rapidity has less suggestion of personality than any of the 
others, except velocity. SeerronAfe. 3. Dexterity, adroit- 
ness, expertness, facility, knack. 4. Penetration, 
quicksand (kwik'sand), n. [< ME. quyksande 
(= D. kwikzand = G. quicksand = Icel. kvik- 
sandr = Sw. qvicksand = Dan. kviksand); < 
quick + sand.] A movable sand-bank in a sea, 
lake, or river; a large mass of loose or moving 
sand mixed with water formed on many sea- 
coasts, at the mouths and in the channels of 
rivers, etc., sometimes dangerous to vessels, 
and especially to travelers. 
And fearing lest they should fall Into the quicksands 
[should be cast upon the Syrtis, R. V.], [they] strake sail 
and so were driven. Acts xxvii. 17. 
And what is Edward but a ruthless sea? 
What Clarence, but a quicksand of deceit? 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., v. 4. 26. 
quicksandy (kwik'san-di), a. [< quicksand + 
-y.] Containing or abounding in quicksands; 
consisting of or resembling quicksands. 
The rotten, moorish, quicksandy grounds. 
Rev. T. Adams, Works, I. 358. 
quick-work 
Unfortunately for this quickmndy world, nobody can be 
sure of his position, however comfortable. 
Sew York Semi-weekly Tribune, April 2, 1867. 
quick-scented (kwik'seu"ted), a. Having an 
acute sense of smell ; of an acute smell. 
I especially commend unto you to be quick-scented, easi- 
ly to trace the footing of sin. 
Hales, Golden Remains, p. 168. (Latham.) 
quickset (kwik'set), a. and . [< quick + set 1 .] 
I. . Made of quickset. 
He immediately concluded that this huge thicket of 
thorns and brakes was designed as a kind of fence or quick- 
set hedge to the ghosts it enclosed. 
Addison, Tale of Marraton. 
II. n. A living plant set to grow, particularly 
for a hedge ; hawthorn planted for a hedge. 
The hairs of the eye-lids are fof a quickset and fence 
about the sight. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 167. 
quickset (kwik'set), v. t. ; pret. and pp. quick- 
set, ppr. quick-setting. [< quickset, n.] To plant 
with living shrubs or trees for a hedge or fence : 
as, to quickset a ditch. 
quick-sighted (kwik'sFted), a. Having quick 
sight or acute discernment; quick to see or 
discern. 
The Judgment, umpire in the strife, . . . 
Quick-sighted arbiter of good and ill. 
Cowper, Tirocinium, 1. 31. 
quick-sightedness (kwik'si'ted-nes), n. The 
quality of being quick-sighted; quickness of 
sight or discernment; readiness to see or dis- 
cern. 
quicksilver (kwik'siFver), n. [< ME. quyksil- 
ver, < AS. cwicseolfor (= D. kwikeilver = MLG. 
quiksulver = OHG. quecsilabar, quechsilpar, 
MHG. quecsilber, G. quecksilber = Icel. kviksilfr, 
mod. kvikasilfr = Sw. qvicksilfver = Norw. kvik- 
sylv = Dan. krikstilv, kvtegsolv), lit. 'living sil- 
ver,' so called from its mobility, < curie, living, 
+ seolfor, silver : see quick and silver. So in L., 
argentum vivum, 'living silver'; also argentum 
liquidum,' liquid silver,' Gr. apyvpof xaria; ,' fused 
silver,' Mpapj-vpos, 'water-silver' (see hydrar- 
gyrum').] The common popular designation of 
the metal mercury. See mercury, 6, and mer- 
curial. 
The rogue fled from me like quicksilver. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., ii. 4. 248. 
Thou hast quicksilver in the veins of thee to a certainty. 
Scott, Abbot, xix. 
Quicksilver plaster*, a mercury soap, prepared from 
cnlorid of mercury and soap. Also called quicksilver soap. 
Quicksilver water, nitrate of mercury. 
quicksilver (kwik'sil'ver), v. t. [< quicksilver, 
n.] To overlay with quicksilver; treat with 
quicksilver : chiefly used in the past and pres- 
ent participles. 
quicksilvered (kwik'siKvferd), p. a. 1. Over- 
laid with quicksilver, or with an amalgam, as a 
plate of glass with quicksilver and tin-foil, to 
make a mirror. 2f. Partaking of the nature 
of quicksilver; showing resemblance to some 
characteristic of quicksilver. 
Those nimble and quicksilvered brains. 
Sir E. Sandys, State of Religion, H. 2. b. 1605. (Latham.) 
This may serve to shew the Difference betwixt the two 
Nations, the leaden-heel'd Pace of the one, and the quiet- 
silver'd Motions of the other. Howell, Letters, I. fv. 21. 
quicksilvering (kwik'sil'ver-ing), n. [Verbal 
n. of quicksilver, v.] 1 . The process of coating 
with quicksilver or with an amalgam. 2. A 
coating with quicksilver or an amalgam, as in 
a looking-glass. 
quickstep (kwik'step), n. 1. Milit., a march 
in quick time that is, at the rate of 110 steps 
per minute. 2. Music adapted to such a rapid 
march, or in a brisk march rhythm. 
quick-tempered (kwik'tenr*perd), a. Passion- 
ate; irascible. 
quick-witted (kwik'wifed), a. Having ready 
wit ; sharp ; ready of perception. 
Bap. How likes Gremio these quick-witted folks ? 
Gre. Believe me, sir, they butt together well. 
Shak., 1. of the 8., v. 2. 38. 
quick-wittedness (kwik'wit'ed-nes), . The 
character of being quick-witted ; readiness of 
wit. 
quickwood (kwik'wud), n. The hawthorn. 
Compare quickset. [Prov. Eng.] 
He . . . in a pond in the said close, adjoining to a quick- 
wood hedge, did drown his wife. 
Aubrey, Misc., Apparitions. 
quick-work (kwik'werk), n. In shi/i-building. 
short planks between the ports; all that part 
of a ship's side which lies between the chain- 
wales and the decks: so called because of its 
being the work most quickly completed in 
building the ship. 
