The Collaborative International Dictionary
Quick \Quick\, a. [Compar. Quicker; superl. Quickest.] [As. cwic, cwicu, cwucu, cucu, living; akin to OS. quik, D. kwik, OHG. quec, chec, G. keck bold, lively, Icel. kvikr living, Goth. qius, Lith. q[=y]vas, Russ. zhivoi, L. vivus living, vivere to live, Gr. bi`os life, Skr. j[=i]va living, j[=i]v to live. Cf. Biography, Vivid, Quitch grass, Whitlow.]
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Alive; living; animate; -- opposed to dead or inanimate.
Not fully quyke, ne fully dead they were.
--Chaucer.The Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.
--2 Tim. iv. 1.Man is no star, but a quick coal Of mortal fire. -- Herbert.
Note: In this sense the word is nearly obsolete, except in some compounds, or in particular phrases.
Characterized by life or liveliness; animated; sprightly; agile; brisk; ready. `` A quick wit.''
--Shak.-
Speedy; hasty; swift; not slow; as, be quick.
Oft he her his charge of quick return Repeated.
--Milton. -
Impatient; passionate; hasty; eager; eager; sharp; unceremonious; as, a quick temper.
The bishop was somewhat quick with them, and signified that he was much offended. -- Latimer.
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Fresh; bracing; sharp; keen.
The air is quick there, And it pierces and sharpens the stomach. -- Shak.
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Sensitive; perceptive in a high degree; ready; as, a quick ear. ``To have an open ear, a quick eye.''
--Shak.They say that women are so quick.
--Tennyson. -
Pregnant; with child.
--Shak.Quick grass. (Bot.) See Quitch grass.
Quick match. See under Match.
Quick vein (Mining), a vein of ore which is productive, not barren.
Quick vinegar, vinegar made by allowing a weak solution of alcohol to trickle slowly over shavings or other porous material.
Quick water, quicksilver water.
Quick with child, pregnant with a living child.
Syn: Speedy; expeditious; swift; rapid; hasty; prompt; ready; active; brisk; nimble; fleet; alert; agile; lively; sprightly.
Match \Match\ (m[a^]ch), n. [OE. macche, F. m[`e]che, F. m[`e]che, fr. L. myxa a lamp nozzle, Gr. my`xa mucus, nostril, a lamp nozzle. Cf. Mucus.] Anything used for catching and retaining or communicating fire, made of some substance which takes fire readily, or remains burning some time; esp., a small strip or splint of wood or cardboard dipped at one end in a substance which can be easily ignited by friction, as a preparation of phosphorus or chlorate of potassium.
Match tub, a tub with a perforated cover for holding slow matches for firing cannon, esp. on board ship. The tub contains a little water in the bottom, for extinguishing sparks from the lighted matches.
Quick match, threads of cotton or cotton wick soaked in a solution of gunpowder mixed with gum arabic and boiling water and afterwards strewed over with mealed powder. It burns at the rate of one yard in thirteen seconds, and is used as priming for heavy mortars, fireworks, etc.
Slow match, slightly twisted hempen rope soaked in a solution of limewater and saltpeter or washed in a lye of water and wood ashes. It burns at the rate of four or five inches an hour, and is used for firing cannon, fireworks, etc.
Wiktionary
alt. A pyrotechnic fuse consisting of a cotton string, coated with black powder, confined in a paper tube n. A pyrotechnic fuse consisting of a cotton string, coated with black powder, confined in a paper tube
Usage examples of "quick match".
He seized the reel of quick match and squeezed through the shattered door.
Eventually there would be a hundred and twenty feet of hose joined and pitched and with quick match threaded all the way through it.
The spark was still travelling along the quick match, Hornblower presumed.
We expected a quick match, someone who'd recognize her from the description in the papers.
All he cared about was that it did precisely what he wanted it to do and ignited the quick match fuse running to the five hundred black powder claymore mines emplaced along the west side of the bridge.
The flash of a passport at the stand, a quick match of fingerprints on a plate, and he made his way up the ramp, past the stationside airlock and into the yellow ribbed gullet of the short access tube.
The guy never served any time, but his prints were in our system, so we were able to make a quick match.