swiftness

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swift

(swĭft)

adj. swift·er, swift·est

1. Moving or capable of moving with great speed; fast. See Synonyms at fast¹.

2. Coming, occurring, or accomplished quickly: a swift retort.

3. Quick to act or react: swift to take revenge.

adv.

Swiftly. Often used in combination: swift-running.

a. A cylinder on a carding machine.

b. A reel used to hold yarn as it is being wound off.

2. Any of various small dark insect-eating birds of the family Apodidae, having long pointed wings and a short forked tail, and noted for their swift flight.

3. Any of various small, fast-moving North American lizards, especially of the genus Sceloporus.

[Middle English, from Old English.]

swift′ly adv.

swift′ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

swiftness - a rate (usually rapid) at which something happens; "the project advanced with gratifying speed"

fastness, speed

pace, rate - the relative speed of progress or change; "he lived at a fast pace"; "he works at a great rate"; "the pace of events accelerated"

haste, hastiness, hurriedness, hurry, precipitation - overly eager speed (and possible carelessness); "he soon regretted his haste"

execution speed - (computer science) the speed with which a computational device can execute instructions; measured in MIPS

graduality, gradualness - the quality of being gradual or of coming about by gradual stages

swiftness

noun

1. rapidity, speed, quickness, promptness The secrecy and swiftness of the invasion shocked and amazed army officers.

2. speed, velocity, alacrity, expedition, dispatch, fleetness, celerity, speediness With incredible swiftness she ran down the passage.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

swiftness

noun

Rapidness of movement or activity:

celerity, dispatch, expedition, expeditiousness, fleetness, haste, hurry, hustle, quickness, rapidity, rapidness, speed, speediness.

Translations

سُرْعَه

rychlost

hurtighed

hraîi, snerpa

çabuklukhızlı olma

敏捷迅速

swiftness

[ˈswɪftnɪs] N [of runner] → rapidez f, velocidad f; [of reaction] → prontitud f, rapidez f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

swiftness

[ˈswɪftnɪs] n → rapidité f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

swiftness

n → Schnelligkeit f; (of movement, steps also) → Flinkheit f; (of reaction, reply also) → Promptheit f; (of pace) → Raschheit f; the swiftness of the current → die reißende Strömung

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

swiftness

[ˈswɪftnɪs] n (see adj) → rapidità, repentinità, velocità, prontezza

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

swift¹

(swift) adjective

fast or quick. a swift horse; Our methods are swift and efficient; a swift-footed animal.

ˈswiftly adverb

ˈswiftness noun

References in classic literature ?

A Sparrow upbraided her and said, "Where now is thy remarkable swiftness of foot?

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On emerging from the Bastille, Gringoire descended the Rue Saint-Antoine with the swiftness of a runaway horse.

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The two borzois of the huntsman who had sighted him, having been the nearest, were the first to see and pursue him, but they had not gone far before Ilagin's red-spotted Erza passed them, got within a length, flew at the hare with terrible swiftness aiming at his scut, and, thinking she had seized him, rolled over like a ball.

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Let Providence claim the swiftness of electricity and of light, of the stars, the comets, and the planets, of wind and sound-- we claim to have invented the swiftness of the cannon-ball, a hundred times superior to that of the swiftest horses or railway train.

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It is the way of the Alps to deliver death to their victims with a merciful swiftness, but here the rule failed.

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I had thought his short legs a bar to swiftness, but had he been coursing with greyhounds the latter would have appeared as though asleep on a door mat.

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All this had happened with such swiftness that I had stood motionless, dumbfounded and dazzled by the flashes of light.

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Though from his bulk, and rolling gait, he does not appear to run with much swiftness; yet, it takes a stanch horse to overtake him, when at full speed on level ground; and a buffalo cow is still fleeter in her motion.

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She showed that alertness, that swiftness of reflection comes out in men before a battle, in conflict, in the dangerous and decisive moments of life--those moments when a man shows once and for all his value, and that all his past has not been wasted but has been a preparation for these moments.

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Soon all the boats but Starbuck's were dropped; all the boat-sails set --all the paddles plying; with rippling swiftness, shooting to leeward; and Ahab heading the onset.

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Baseek was surprised by the other's temerity and swiftness of attack.

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Now the whole spindle has the same motion; but, as the whole revolves in one direction, the seven inner circles move slowly in the other, and of these the swiftest is the eighth; next in swiftness are the seventh, sixth, and fifth, which move together; third in swiftness appeared to move according to the law of this reversed motion the fourth; the third appeared fourth and the second fifth.

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