quicken

CEFRB2

/ˈkwɪk(ə)n/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To become faster or make something happen faster.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    Senses relating to life or states of activity.

Examples

  • She felt her pulse quicken as she walked onto the stage.

  • I felt my heart quicken.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To put (someone or something) in a state of activity or vigour comparable to life; to excite, to rouse.

  2. To inspire or stimulate (an action, a feeling, etc.).

  3. To stimulate or assist the fermentation of (an alcoholic beverage, dough, etc.).

More examples

In context

  • My heartbeat quickened when I heard him approach.

  • to quicken the sheer, that is, to make its curve more pronounced

  • […] Italy had quickened Cecil, not to tolerance, but to irritation. He saw that the local society was narrow, but, instead of saying, "Does this very much matter?" he rebelled, and tried to substitute for it the society he called broad.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

To avoid the sudden rain, she had to blank her walking speed immediately.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English quikenen (“to become alive again after dying; to raise (someone) from the dead; to regain consciousness or strength; to give vitality, revive; to regain validity; to nourish; to spare (the life of someone or something); to ignite; to illuminate; of events: to happen more quickly; of clouds: to form”) [and other forms], from quiken (“to come to life; to become alive again after dying; to give or regain vitality, revive; of a seed: to germinate, grow; to arouse (anger); to inspire; to reinforce, strengthen; to make (a substance) alchemically active; to nourish, sustain; to sharpen; to ignite; to illuminate; of news: to spread”) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive forms of...