Crossword clues for quickening
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Quickening \Quick"en*ing\, n.
The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
(Physiol.) The first motion of the fetus in the womb felt by the mother, occurring usually about the middle of the term of pregnancy. It has been popularly supposed to be due to the fetus becoming possessed of independent life.
Quicken \Quick"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. quickened; p. pr. & vb. n. Quickening.] [AS. cwician. See Quick, a.]
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To make alive; to vivify; to revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state; hence, to excite; to, stimulate; to incite.
The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead.
--Shak.Like a fruitful garden without an hedge, that quickens the appetite to enjoy so tempting a prize. -- South.
To make lively, active, or sprightly; to impart additional energy to; to stimulate; to make quick or rapid; to hasten; to accelerate; as, to quicken one's steps or thoughts; to quicken one's departure or speed.
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(Shipbuilding) To shorten the radius of (a curve); to make (a curve) sharper; as, to quicken the sheer, that is, to make its curve more pronounced.
Syn: To revive; resuscitate; animate; reinvigorate; vivify; refresh; stimulate; sharpen; incite; hasten; accelerate; expedite; dispatch; speed.
Wiktionary
n. 1 An increase of speed. 2 The action of bringing someone or something to life. 3 The first noticable movements of a foetus during pregnancy, or the period when this occurs. 4 stimulation, excitement (of a feeling, emotion etc.). vb. (present participle of quicken English)
WordNet
n. the process of showing signs of life; "the quickening of seed that will become ripe grain"
the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels movements of the fetus
the act of accelerating; increasing the speed [syn: acceleration, speedup]
Wikipedia
The Quickening is a phenomenon in the Highlander films and television series. Beheading a character known as an "Immortal" produces a powerful energy release from their body called a "Quickening."
The lead cast member of the television series, Adrian Paul, explained, "The Quickening is the receiving of all the power and knowledge another immortal has obtained throughout his/her life. It is like the receiving of a sacrament or a massive orgasm." The series producers stated, "The power of the Quickening is the equivalent to a major electrical storm hitting—windows explode, lights short circuit, it is almost as if the victorious Immortal is in the center of a lightning storm."
Quickening is the earliest perception of fetal movement by a mother during pregnancy (both a medical and legal term)
Quickening may also refer to:
- Quickening (Final Fantasy), Final Fantasy XII's incarnation of "Limit Breaks"
- Quickening (Highlander), the transfer of an immortal's life force in the Highlander universe
- Quickening (Angel), a 2001 episode of the television series Angel
- "Quickening" (Movie), the third film in the Rebuild of Evangelion series
In pregnancy terms, quickening is the moment in pregnancy when the pregnant woman starts to feel or perceive fetal movements in the uterus.
Quickening is a cantata for countertenor, two tenors, two baritones, children's choir, chorus, and orchestra by the Scottish composer James MacMillan. The work was co-commissioned by The Proms and the Philadelphia Orchestra and was completed in 1998. Its world premiere was performed by the Hilliard Ensemble, the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, and the Westminster Cathedral Boys' Choir under the direction of Andrew Davis at Royal Albert Hall, London, on September 5, 1999. The journalist Damian Thompson of The Spectator described it as "one of MacMillan's masterpieces."
Usage examples of "quickening".
They naturally go together where there is adaptedness for them, mutually quickening and increasing each other.
Quickening had a fire built close to where Walker Boh lay sleeping and she took up a position at his side and did not move.
Quickening lay down next to Walker Boh and went to sleep, her body pressed close against his.
The line spread out along the broken seam, Dees in the lead, Carisman, Quickening, Morgan, and Walker Boh following, and Pe Ell last.
But Quickening had assured him in that way she had of dispelling all doubt that Horner Dees was the man they needed.
The pulse was still quickening, and even more disturbHARMFUL INTENT t5 ing, there was an ectopic, irregular heartbeat.
The pulse was still quickening, and even more disturbing, there was an ectopic, irregular heartbeat.
There with a barely controlled fierceness that constantly battled the more rational need to be gentle with her, they came together like midnight sky and morning sun, dark upon pale gold as she welcomed him with slender arms, and the quickening heat of her body.
Beyond, out of gullies and flats that had been hidden from us, but not from the quickening sun, over reefs and banks of shining rock, a bristling beard of spiky and fleshy vegetation was straining into view, hurrying tumultuously to take advantage of the brief day in which it must flower and fruit and seed again and die.
In general there were only scattered members of a Christian community, awaiting the inbreathing of some quickening spiritual influence that should bring bone to its bone and erect the whole into a living church.
The work of the new lyrist must be to see in things and emotions the quality of beauty, and to discern and express the magic quickening thrill that creeps like a flame through the material form, and passes out beyond the invisible horizon, leaping from star to star, and from the furthest star into the depths of the ancient environing night.
And with the rising sap came a rejuvenescence of his whole body, and a quickening of experience.
The second man, Christ the Lord, soon to return from heaven, was a quickening spirit, head and representative of a risen spiritual race for whom is prepared the eternal inheritance of the saints in light.
Wrong answer, Adam thought, fiercely resisting the wild impulses that had his fingers tingling, his blood quickening, heaviness spreading to his groin.
Their lovemaking grew fiercer after that, her reactions feeding his, and he drove harder into her, with her urging on the quickening pace of his thrusts.