quickening


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to quickening: fetal movement

quick·en

 (kwĭk′ən)
v. quick·ened, quick·en·ing, quick·ens
v.tr.
1. To make more rapid: Stress quickens the pulse.
2. To cause (a body or soul, for example) to become alive; vitalize.
3. To excite and stimulate; stir: Such stories quicken the imagination.
v.intr.
1. To become more rapid. See Synonyms at speed.
2. To come or return to life, as a soul.
3. To become excited or stimulated: Our interest in the project has quickened.
4. To reach the stage of pregnancy when the fetus can be felt to move.

quick′en·er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.quickening - the process of showing signs of life; "the quickening of seed that will become ripe grain"
biological process, organic process - a process occurring in living organisms
2.quickening - the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus
degree, stage, level, point - a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process; "a remarkable degree of frankness"; "at what stage are the social sciences?"
maternity, pregnancy, gestation - the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus
3.quickening - the act of acceleratingquickening - the act of accelerating; increasing the speed
hurrying, speeding, speed - changing location rapidly
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

quickening

adjective
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

quick·en·ing

1. n. animación;
2. percepción por la madre del primer movimiento del feto en el útero.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

quickening

n (obst) primeros movimientos fetales percibidos por la embarazada
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
In her little bundle she had provided a store of cakes and apples, which she used as expedients for quickening the speed of the child, rolling the apple some yards before them, when the boy would run with all his might after it; and this ruse, often repeated, carried them over many a half-mile.
Directly it was dark, he was abroad--never in company with any one, but always alone; never lingering or loitering, but always walking swiftly; and looking (so they said who had seen him) over his shoulder from time to time, and as he did so quickening his pace.
The one, that the tooth of usury be grinded, that it bite not too much; the other, that there be left open a means, to invite moneyed men to lend to the merchants, for the continuing and quickening of trade.
the old woman said, quickening hers, too, quite easily.