'Fast and loose' definitions:

Definition of 'Fast and loose'

From: GCIDE
  • Loose \Loose\ (l[=oo]s), a. [Compar. Looser (l[=oo]s"[~e]r); superl. Loosest.] [OE. loos, lous, laus, Icel. lauss; akin to OD. loos, D. los, AS. le['a]s false, deceitful, G. los, loose, Dan. & Sw. l["o]s, Goth. laus, and E. lose. [root]127. See Lose, and cf. Leasing falsehood.]
  • 1. Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed, or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book. [1913 Webster]
  • Her hair, nor loose, nor tied in formal plat. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty, habit, etc.; -- with from or of. [1913 Webster]
  • Now I stand Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts ? --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Not tight or close; as, a loose garment. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of loose texture. [1913 Webster]
  • With horse and chariots ranked in loose array. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as, a loose style, or way of reasoning. [1913 Webster]
  • The comparison employed . . . must be considered rather as a loose analogy than as an exact scientific explanation. --Whewel. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right. [1913 Webster]
  • The loose morality which he had learned. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. Unconnected; rambling. [1913 Webster]
  • Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose and unconnected pages. --I. Watts. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. Lax; not costive; having lax bowels. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman. [1913 Webster]
  • Loose ladies in delight. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language; as, a loose epistle. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • At loose ends, not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed.
  • Fast and loose. See under Fast.
  • To break loose. See under Break.
  • Loose pulley. (Mach.) See Fast and loose pulleys, under Fast.
  • To let loose, to free from restraint or confinement; to set at liberty. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Fast and loose'

From: GCIDE
  • Fast \Fast\, a. [Compar. Faster; superl. Fastest.] [OE., firm, strong, not loose, AS. f[ae]st; akin to OS. fast, D. vast, OHG. fasti, festi, G. fest, Icel. fastr, Sw. & Dan. fast, and perh. to E. fetter. The sense swift comes from the idea of keeping close to what is pursued; a Scandinavian use. Cf. Fast, adv., Fast, v., Avast.]
  • 1. Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose, unstable, or easily moved; immovable; as, to make fast the door. [1913 Webster]
  • There is an order that keeps things fast. --Burke. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong. [1913 Webster]
  • Outlaws . . . lurking in woods and fast places. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Firm in adherence; steadfast; not easily separated or alienated; faithful; as, a fast friend. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Permanent; not liable to fade by exposure to air or by washing; durable; lasting; as, fast colors. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Tenacious; retentive. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Not easily disturbed or broken; deep; sound. [1913 Webster]
  • All this while in a most fast sleep. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. Moving rapidly; quick in mition; rapid; swift; as, a fast horse. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. Given to pleasure seeking; disregardful of restraint; reckless; wild; dissipated; dissolute; as, a fast man; a fast liver. --Thackeray. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. In such a condition, as to resilience, etc., as to make possible unusual rapidity of play or action; as, a fast racket, or tennis court; a fast track; a fast billiard table, etc. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  • Fast and loose, now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant, esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose, to play fast and loose, to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another. "Play fast and loose with faith." --Shak.
  • Fast and loose pulleys (Mach.), two pulleys placed side by side on a revolving shaft, which is driven from another shaft by a band, and arranged to disengage and re["e]ngage the machinery driven thereby. When the machinery is to be stopped, the band is transferred from the pulley fixed to the shaft to the pulley which revolves freely upon it, and vice versa.
  • Hard and fast (Naut.), so completely aground as to be immovable.
  • To make fast (Naut.), to make secure; to fasten firmly, as a vessel, a rope, or a door. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'fast and loose'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Fast and loose'