fast

fast1 [ fæst ] adjective ***

▸ 1 quick

▸ 2 exciting

▸ 3 of a clock

▸ 4 of film

▸ 5 of colors

▸ 6 of a woman

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) able to move quickly:

Simon loves fast cars.

a chance for runners to show how fast they are

a ) done quickly:

It was a very fast trip.

a fast drive/run

a fast pace/tempo/speed: We were expected to work at a fast pace.

b ) done without waiting or delaying:

The government has promised a fast response to the crisis.

We need fast and effective action to combat this problem.

c ) a fast road is one on which you can drive quickly

d ) doing or able to do something quickly:

a fast reader/learner: I'm usually quite a fast learner.

2. ) exciting, with a lot of different things happening in a short time:

The pace of the game was fast.

a ) only before noun a fast way of life is one in which you travel a lot, meet a lot of people, and do a lot of exciting things

3. ) not usually before noun if a clock is fast, it shows a time that is later than the correct time:

My watch is a few minutes fast.

4. ) only before noun a fast film is one that you use to take photographs of something that is moving quickly or when there is not very much light

5. ) colors that are fast will not become paler when clothes are washed

6. ) only before noun OLD-FASHIONED a fast woman is one who has sexual relationships with a lot of different people

fast and furious

used about situations in which a lot of different things happen one after the other:

The game was fast and furious.

Political changes have been fast and furious since the coup.

a fast talker

someone who talks very quickly in order to trick you or persuade you to buy something

a fast worker INFORMAL

someone who achieves something very quickly, especially someone who starts a sexual or romantic relationship very quickly

make something fast

to fix something somewhere so that it cannot move:

She slipped the rope around a post and made it fast.

make a fast buck INFORMAL

to make money quickly and with very little effort

=> PULL1

fast

fast 2 [ fæst ] adverb ***

1. ) quickly:

We drove as fast as we could to the hospital.

I can't run very fast.

Can't you work any faster?

a ) over a short period of time:

The business has grown very fast.

fast becoming/developing/disappearing etc.: This company is fast becoming a major exporter of computer software.

b ) without waiting or delaying:

You need to get help fast!

We got there as fast as we could.

2. ) firmly and strongly or tightly:

She held fast to the chair and refused to move.

The van was stuck fast in the mud.

be getting/going nowhere fast INFORMAL

to be making very little progress

fast asleep

sleeping in a way that makes it difficult to wake you

hold fast to something FORMAL

to refuse to stop believing in something

not so fast SPOKEN

used when you are telling someone to wait and not be too quick to do something or believe something

stand fast/firm FORMAL

to continue to do something that you believe is right even when other people are trying to stop you

fast

fast 3 [ fæst ] verb intransitive

to eat no food or very little food for a period of time, often for religious reasons

fast

fast 4 [ fæst ] noun count

a period of time when you eat no food or very little food, often for religious reasons