Quickening

quick·en  (kwkn)

v. quick·ened, quick·en·ing, quick·ens

v.tr.

1. To make more rapid; accelerate.

2. To make alive; vitalize.

3. To excite and stimulate; stir: Such stories quicken the imagination.

4. To make steeper.

v.intr.

1. To become more rapid. See Synonyms at speed.

2. To come or return to life: "And the weak spirit quickens" (T.S. Eliot).

3. To reach the stage of pregnancy when the fetus can be felt to move.

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quicken·er n.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	quickening - the process of showing signs of life; "the quickening of seed that will become ripe grain" biological process, organic process - a process occurring in living organisms
	2.	quickening - the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus degree, stage, level, point - a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process; "a remarkable degree of frankness"; "at what stage are the social sciences?" maternity, pregnancy, gestation - the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus
	3.	quickening - the act of accelerating; increasing the speed speedup, acceleration hurrying, speeding, speed - changing location rapidly