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Hence, rapidly performed; quickly executed; as, a summary process; to take summary vengeance.

Moving a great distance in a short time; moving with celerity or velocity; fleet; rapid; quick; speedy; prompt. My beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. James i. 19. Swift of dispatch and easy of access. Dryden. And bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 Pet. ii. 1.…

In a swift manner; with quick motion or velocity; fleetly. Wyclif.

The quality or state of being swift; speed; quickness; celerity; velocity; rapidity; as, the swiftness of a bird; the swiftness of a stream; swiftness of descent in a falling body; swiftness of thought, etc.

Nimble; quick. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Slang]

A sound of quick movement, as of something whirled through the air. [Colloq.]

Instantly; quickly; speedily; rapidly. [Obs.] That thou doest, do thou swithe. Wyclif (John xiii. 27).

Quickly. See Swithe. [Obs.]

movements, as the allegro, the adagio, the minuet and trio, or scherzo, and the finale in quick time. The term has recently been applied to large orchestral works in freer form, with arguments or programmes to explain their meaning, such as the "symphonic poems" of Liszt. The term was formerly applied to any compositio…

A quicksand; a bog. [R.] Young.

Of or pertaining to a syrt; resembling syrt, or quicksand. [R.] Ed. Rev.

A quicksand. Quenched in a boggy syrtis, neither sea Nor good dry land. Milton.

The parry which is connected with a riposte; also, a series of quick attacks and parries in which neither fencer gains a point.

A sort of dog, noted for quick scent and eager pursuit of game. [Obs.] Wase (1654).

Any quick, decisive stroke or act. [Colloq. U.S.]

keep open with a tent; as, to tent a wound. Used also figuratively. I'll tent him to the quick. Shak.

Abundant, close, or crowded in space; closely set; following in quick succession; frequently recurring. The people were gathered thick together. Luke xi. 29. Black was the forest; thick with beech it stood. Dryden.

by means of small cups or thimbles, and a pea or small ball placed under one of them and quickly shifted to another, the victim laying a wager that he knows under which cup it is; hence, to cheat by any trick.

ting of three, or thrice repeated; triple; as, threefold justice. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. Eccl. iv. 12.

A quick, audible beat, as of a clock.