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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.

Rapidity of motion; quickness; swiftness. Time, with all its celerity, moves slowly to him whose whole employment is to watch its flight. Johnson.

s flesh from off his breast. Shak. Before the whistling winds the vessels fly, With rapid swiftness cut the liquid way. Pope.

Swiftness; rapidity; velocity; celerity; speed; as, the fleetness of a horse or of time.

A slender, graceful breed of dogs, remarkable for keen sight and swiftness. It is one of the oldest varieties known, and is figured on the Egyptian monuments. [Written also grayhound.]

Celerity of motion; speed; swiftness; dispatch; expedition; -- applied only to voluntary beings, as men and other animals. The king's business required haste. 1 Sam. xxi. 8.

To move with force and swiftness like a sliding from the stocks into the water; to plunge; to make a beginning; as, to launch into the current of a stream; to launch into an argument or discussion; to launch into lavish expenditures; -- often with out. Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. Luk…

The quality of being nimble; lightness and quickness in motion; agility; swiftness.

To go beyond; to exceed in swiftness; to surpass; to outdo.

Swiftness; celerity. [R.] Ray.

pecifically, a horse bred or kept for running races. (b) A breed of horses remarkable for swiftness in running. (c) (Zoöl.) The steamer duck.

The part of a river where the current moves with great swiftness, but without actual waterfall or cascade; -- usually in the plural; as, the Lachine rapids in the St. Lawrence. Row, brothers, row the stream runs fast, The rapids are near, and the daylight's past. Moore.

The quality or state of being rapid; swiftness; celerity; velocity; as, the rapidity of growth or improvement.

ble demand, amount, price. Let . . . all things be thought upon That may, with reasonable swiftness, add More feathers to you wings. Shak.

The greatest degree of swiftness in marching. It is executed upon the same principles as the double-quick, but with greater speed.

The Indian antelope (Antilope bezoartica, or cervicapra), noted for its beauty and swiftness. It has long, spiral, divergent horns.

The act or state of moving swiftly; swiftness; velocity; rapidly; rate of motion; dispatch; as, the speed a horse or a vessel. Speed, to describe whose swiftness number fails. Milton.

A South African gazelle (Gazella euchore) noted for its graceful form and swiftness, and for its peculiar habit of springing lighty and suddenly into the air. It has a white dorsal stripe, expanding into a broad patch of white on the rump and tail. Called also springer. [Written also springboc, and springbock.]…

in which the tail is deeply forked. They have long, pointed wings, and are noted for the swiftness and gracefulness of their flight.

eaning off surfaces, or cleaning away dust, dirt, or litter, as a broom does; moving with swiftness and force; carrying everything before it; including in its scope many persons or things; as, a sweeping flood; a sweeping majority; a sweeping accusation. -- Sweep"ing*ly, adv. -Sweep"ing*ness, n.