Fast \Fast\, a. [Compar. Faster; superl. Fastest.] [OE.,
firm, strong, not loose, AS. f[ae]st; akin to OS. fast, D.
vast, OHG. fasti, festi, G. fest, Icel. fastr, Sw. & Dan.
fast, and perh. to E. fetter. The sense swift comes from the
idea of keeping close to what is pursued; a Scandinavian use.
Cf. Fast, adv., Fast, v., Avast.]
1. Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose,
unstable, or easily moved; immovable; as, to make fast the
door.
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There is an order that keeps things fast. --Burke.
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2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art;
impregnable; strong.
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Outlaws . . . lurking in woods and fast places.
--Spenser.
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3. Firm in adherence; steadfast; not easily separated or
alienated; faithful; as, a fast friend.
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4. Permanent; not liable to fade by exposure to air or by
washing; durable; lasting; as, fast colors.
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5. Tenacious; retentive. [Obs.]
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Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their
smells. --Bacon.
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6. Not easily disturbed or broken; deep; sound.
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All this while in a most fast sleep. --Shak.
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7. Moving rapidly; quick in mition; rapid; swift; as, a fast
horse.
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8. Given to pleasure seeking; disregardful of restraint;
reckless; wild; dissipated; dissolute; as, a fast man; a
fast liver. --Thackeray.
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9. In such a condition, as to resilience, etc., as to make
possible unusual rapidity of play or action; as, a fast
racket, or tennis court; a fast track; a fast billiard
table, etc.
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Fast and loose, now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant,
esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose, to play
fast and loose, to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy
or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another.
"Play fast and loose with faith." --Shak.
Fast and loose pulleys (Mach.), two pulleys placed side by
side on a revolving shaft, which is driven from another
shaft by a band, and arranged to disengage and re["e]ngage
the machinery driven thereby. When the machinery is to be
stopped, the band is transferred from the pulley fixed to
the shaft to the pulley which revolves freely upon it, and
vice versa.
Hard and fast (Naut.), so completely aground as to be
immovable.
To make fast (Naut.), to make secure; to fasten firmly, as
a vessel, a rope, or a door.
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