quicken

Plural: quickens

Verb

Verb Forms: quickened, quickening, quickens

To make or become faster; to accelerate or revive.
move faster
make keen or more acute
give life or energy to
show signs of life
- "the fetus quickened"
give new life or energy to
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
To put (someone or something) in a state of activity or vigour comparable to life; to excite, to rouse.
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
To inspire or stimulate (an action, a feeling, etc.).
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
To stimulate or assist the fermentation of (an alcoholic beverage, dough, etc.).
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
To give life to (someone or something never alive or once dead); to animate, to resurrect, to revive.
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
To make or help (something) to burn.
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
To make (a drug, liquor, etc.) more effective or stimulating.
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
Of a pregnant woman: to be in the state of reaching the stage of pregnancy at which the movements of the foetus are first felt.
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
To take on a state of activity or vigour comparable to life; to be excited or roused.
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
To grow bright; to brighten.
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
Of an alcoholic beverage, dough, etc.: to ferment.
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
Of a pregnant woman: to first feel the movements of the foetus, or reach the stage of pregnancy at which this takes place; of a foetus: to begin to move.
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
To give life; to make alive.
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
To come back to life, to receive life.
Senses relating to life or states of activity.
To inspire or stimulate.
Senses relating to speed.
To make (something) quicker or faster; to hasten, speed up.
Senses relating to speed.
To shorten the radius of (a curve); to make (a curve) sharper, or (an incline) steeper.
Senses relating to speed.
To become quicker or faster.
To apply quicksilver (mercury) to (something); to combine (something) with quicksilver; to quicksilver.

Noun

In full quicken tree: the European rowan, rowan, or mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia).
Synonym of couch grass (“a species of grass, Elymus repens”); also (chiefly in the plural), the underground rhizomes of this, and sometimes other grasses.

Examples

My heartbeat quickened when I heard him approach.
The pressure of the tournament helped QUICKEN his strategic decision-making.
to quicken the sheer, that is, to make its curve more pronounced

Origin / Etymology

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 verbs). Quiken is derived from Old English cwician (“to bring to life, vivify; to come to life, become living; to quicken”), from cwic (“alive, live, living; mentally agile; intelligent, keen”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz (“alive; lively; quick”) and Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”)) + -ian (suffix forming verbs from adjectives and nouns). The English word may be analysed as quick (“moving with swiftness; occurring in a short time; (archaic) alive, living; (archaic) pregnant”) + -en (suffix attached to some adjectives forming transitive verbs meaning ‘to make [adjective]’).
Cognates
* Danish kvikne (“to quicken, revive”)
* Icelandic kvikna (“to ignite; to turn on”)
* Swedish kvickna (“to revive”)

Synonyms

accelerate, animate, invigorate, reanimate, recreate, renovate, repair, revive, revivify, speed, speed up, vivify, whet, abet, actuate, alight, arouse, awaken, beghast, bright, brighten, bring about, cheer, chop-chop, conflagrate, couch grass, dog grass, drive, egg on, electrify, encourage, energize, enflame, engender, enkindle, enliven, enthrill, enthuse, evoke, exagitate, exalt, excite, exhilarate, exsuscitate, fillip, fire, fire the blood, fire up, foment, galvanize, get a move on, get a wiggle on, get it on, get one's ass in gear, get one's skates on, get the lead out, gin up, ginger, ginger up, goad, grill, hasten, hurry up, ignite, impel, incite, induce, inflame, inspire, inspirit, instigate, intoxicate, invoke, jazz, kindle, lash, light, light up, liven, liven up, mend one's pace, motivate, motive, move, obligate, oblige, perk up, pick up speed, promote, prompt, provoke, push, put on, quackgrass, quick grass, quick tree, quickbeam, quicken, quickens, quitch, quitch grass, rouse, scutch grass, send, set ablaze, set afire, set aflame, set alight, set fire, set fire to, set off, set on fire, sharpen, spark off, spice, spice up, spur, spur on, step up, stimulate, sting, stir, stir the blood, stir up, stoke, surge, suscitate, tempt, thrill, torch, twitch, urge, vitalise, wake, warm the blood, whip up, wind up, witchgrass, work up, yerk

Antonyms

decelerate

Scrabble Score: 22

quicken: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
quicken: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
quicken: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 25

quicken: valid Words With Friends Word