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. qȳvas, Russ. zhivoi, L. vivus living, vivere to live, Gr. βίοσ 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.
☞ 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 to 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.