'Quickening' definitions:
Definition of 'quickening'
From: WordNet
noun
The process of showing signs of life; "the quickening of seed that will become ripe grain"
noun
The stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus
noun
The act of accelerating; increasing the speed [syn: acceleration, quickening, speedup] [ant: deceleration]
Definition of 'Quickening'
From: GCIDE
- Quicken \Quick"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. quickened; p. pr. & vb. n. Quickening.] [AS. cwician. See Quick, a.]
- 1. To make alive; to vivify; to revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state; hence, to excite; to, stimulate; to incite. [1913 Webster]
- The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Like a fruitful garden without an hedge, that quickens the appetite to enjoy so tempting a prize. -- South. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To make lively, active, or sprightly; to impart additional energy to; to stimulate; to make quick or rapid; to hasten; to accelerate; as, to quicken one's steps or thoughts; to quicken one's departure or speed. [1913 Webster]
- 3. (Shipbuilding) To shorten the radius of (a curve); to make (a curve) sharper; as, to quicken the sheer, that is, to make its curve more pronounced. [1913 Webster]
- Syn: To revive; resuscitate; animate; reinvigorate; vivify; refresh; stimulate; sharpen; incite; hasten; accelerate; expedite; dispatch; speed. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Quickening'
From: GCIDE
- Quickening \Quick"en*ing\, n.
- 1. The act or process of making or of becoming quick. [1913 Webster]
- 2. (Physiol.) The first motion of the fetus in the womb felt by the mother, occurring usually about the middle of the term of pregnancy. It has been popularly supposed to be due to the fetus becoming possessed of independent life. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'quickening'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- acceleration,
- activating,
- animating,
- animation,
- animative,
- bracing,
- clarification,
- double time,
- double-quick,
- double-quick time,
- drive,
- easing,
- energizing,
- enlivening,
- enlivenment,
- exhilarating,
- exhilaration,
- exhilarative,
- expediting,
- expedition,
- facilitation,
- festination,
- forced march,
- forwarding,
- getaway,
- hastening,
- hurrying,
- impetus,
- invigorating,
- invigoration,
- invigorative,
- life-giving,
- pickup,
- revitalization,
- revival,
- rousing,
- simplification,
- simplifying,
- smoothing,
- speeding,
- speedup,
- step-up,
- stimulating,
- stimulation,
- stimulative,
- streamlining,
- thrust,
- tonic,
- viable,
- vitalization,
- vitalizing,
- vivification,
- vivifying