Search the Dictionary

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

To ply; to move. [R.] I heard the sound of an oar applying swiftly through the water. T. Moore.

A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice.

To move swiftly; -- usually with indefinite it. Straight flies as chek, and clips it down the wind. Dryden.

To fly or pass swiftly, as a dart.

Cause of loss of life. Swiftly flies the feathered death. Dryden. He caught his death the last county sessions. Addison.

To throw out suddenly and swiftly, as if a dart; to dart; to eject. [Archaic or Technical] Its active rays ejaculated thence. Blackmore.

Novæ- Hollandiæ and D. irroratus), related to the cassowary and the ostrich. The emu runs swiftly, but is unable to fly. [Written also emeu and emew.]

In a fast or rapid manner; quickly; swiftly; extravagantly; wildly; as, to run fast; to live fast. Fast by, or Fast beside, close or near to; near at hand. He, after Eve seduced, unminded slunk Into the wood fast by. Milton. Fast by the throne obsequious Fame resides. Pope.

To fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit as a light substance. All the unaccomplished works of Nature's hand, . . . Dissolved on earth, fleet hither. Milton.

Passing swiftly away; not durable; transient; transitory; as, the fleeting hours or moments.

In a fleeting manner; swiftly.

To move or pass swiftly; to hasten away; to circulate rapidly; as, a ship flies on the deep; a top flies around; rumor flies. Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race. Milton. The dark waves murmured as the ships flew on. Bryant.

The act or manner of moving smoothly, swiftly, and without labor or obstruction. They prey at last ensnared, he dreadful darts, With rapid glide, along the leaning line. Thomson. Seeing Orlando, it unlink'd itself, And with indented glides did slip away. Shak.

not his temples glow In the same sultry winds and acrching heats Addison. The cord slides swiftly through his glowing hands. Gay.

having long hind legs, a short tail, and a divided upper lip. It is a timid animal, moves swiftly by leaps, and is remarkable for its fecundity.

genus Ocypoda, living on the coast of Brazil and the West Indies, noted for running very swiftly.

A low monotonous noise, as of bees in flight, of a swiftly revolving top, of a wheel, or the like; a drone; a buzz. The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums. Shak.

To spring or move suddenly, as by a jump or by jumps; to bound; to move swiftly. Also Fig. My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky. Wordsworth.

Swiftly; nimbly; with agility. So mikle was that barge, it might not lightly sail. R. of Brunne. Watch what thou seest and lightly bring me word. Tennyson.