Definition of "fast"

out-lawes […] lurking in woods and fast places

1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […]; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809,

I still hear you sayin', "Dear one, hold me fast"

1933, Will Hudson, Irving Mills, Eddy DeLange, Moonglow

Sydney is a fast city, and the pace is becoming increasingly more frantic.

1968, Carl Ruhen, The Key Club, Sydney: Scripts, page 15

Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep.

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene i]

Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells.

1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Gardens”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret

[…] we remember once hearing a fast man suggest that they were evidently "nobs who had overdrawn the badger by driving fast cattle, and going it high" — the exact signification of which words we did not understand […]

1852, John Swaby, Physiology of the Opera, page 74

Had Senator Wilson won the unenviable reputation of being a fast man—a lover of wine, or had he shown himself to the public in a state of inebriety, unable to stand erect in Fanueil Hall for instance, leaning upon the desk to “maintain the center of gravity,” and uttering words that fell sprawling in “muddy obscurity” from lips redolent of rum, rendering it necessary for a prompter and an interpreter to sculpture his speech into symmetry for the public ear and the public press, he would have been pelted from his high office with the indignant ballots of his constituents.

1867, George W. Bungay, “Temperance and its Champions”, in The Herald of Health and Journal of Physical Culture‎, volume I, page 277

You're alone with her at last / And you're waiting 'til you think the time is right / Cause you've heard she's pretty fast / And you're hoping that she'll give you some tonight.

1979, Doug Fieger, Good Girls Don't

Shylock: […] Do as I bid you; shut doors after you:Fast bind, fast find;A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene v]

Nine hundred of the ſtrongeſt Men were employed to draw up theſe Cords by many Pulleys faſtned on the Poles, and thus, in leſs than three Hours, I was raiſed and flung into the Engine, and there tyed faſt.

1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Gives Some Account of Himself and Family, His First Inducements to Travel. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 20

Faster than a speeding bit, the internet upended media and entertainment companies. Piracy soared, and sales of albums and films slid. Newspapers lost advertising and readers to websites. Stores selling books, CDs and DVDs went bust. Doomsayers predicted that consumers and advertisers would abandon pay-television en masse in favour of online alternatives.

2013 August 17, “Pennies streaming from heaven”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8849

Thou didst fast and weep for the child.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 2 Samuel 12:21

Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked.

1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], page 2

And is it not the Command of Christ, that in their Fast they should not appear unto men to fast?

1677 George Fox, The Hypocrites Fast and Feast Not God's Holy Day, p. 8 (paraphrasing Matthew 6:16-18).

It is at the core of the Vision Quest, the solitary period of fasting and closeness to the earth to discover one's life path and purpose.

2007, John Zerzan, Silence, page 3

The ideal would be to fast in a situation where you are not tempted by food

1977, Suza Norton, “To get the most benefit from fasting use a body-building diet”, in Yoga Journal, Jul-Aug 1977, p. 40

After the equilibration period, the rats designated for deprivation studies were made to fast for 24, 48, 72, or 96 hr according to experimental design.

1983, Experimental Lung Research, volumes 5-6, Informa healthcare, page 134

At 11 weeks of age, all mice were fasted overnight and underwent gallbladder ultrasonography to determine ejection fraction.

Walker et al. (2007)

Kittens, when fasted overnight, were not hypoglycemic (<60 mg/dl).

Semick et al. (2018)

And is it not the Command of Christ, that in their Fast they should not appear unto men to fast?

1677 George Fox, The Hypocrites Fast and Feast Not God's Holy Day, p. 8 (paraphrasing Matthew 6:16-18).

anciently a change of diet was not reckoned a fast; but it consisted in a perfect abstinence from all sustenance for the whole day till evening.

1878, Joseph Bingham, The Antiquities of the Christian Church, volume 2, page 1182

And so may we enter the Fasts at hand, beginning Lent the 30th. day of the Month Mechir

1662 Peter Gunning, The Holy Fast of Lent Defended Against All Its Prophaners: Or, a Discourse, Shewing that Lent-Fast was First Taught the World by the Apostles (1677 ), p. 13 (translation of the Paschal Epistle of Theophilus of Alexandria).