quicken

Senses relating to life or states of activity.; To put (someone or something) in a state of activity or vigour comparable to life; to excite, to rouse.transitive

• […] Italy had quickened Cecil, not to tolerance, but to irritation. He saw that the local society was narrow, but, instead of saying, "Does this very much matter?" he rebelled, and tried to substitute for it the society he called broad.

Senses relating to life or states of activity.; To inspire or stimulate (an action, a feeling, etc.).transitive

• This quicken'd my Reſolution to reſtore her Money, and not only ſo, but I reſolv'd I would give her ſomething over and above her Loſs; […]

Senses relating to life or states of activity.; To stimulate or assist the fermentation of (an alcoholic beverage, dough, etc.).transitive

Senses relating to life or states of activity.; To give life to (someone or something never alive or once dead); to animate, to resurrect, to revive.alsofigurativelyliterary

• Whoſoever will goo about to ſave his lyfe⸝ shall looſe it: And whoſoever ſhall looſe his life⸝ ſhall quycken it.
• I haue ſeen a medicine That's able to breath life into a ſtone, Quicken a rocke, […]

Senses relating to life or states of activity.; To make or help (something) to burn.archaictransitive

• […] she Quickened the fire and laid the board, […]
• Was it alight once? Still lives spark enough For breath to quicken, run the smouldering ash Red right through.

Senses relating to life or states of activity.; To make (a drug, liquor, etc.) more effective or stimulating.obsoletetransitive

• Coole Violets, and Orpine growing ſtill, Embathed Balme, and chearfull Galingale, Freſh Coſtmarie, and breathfull Camomill, Poppie, and drink-quickning Setuale, […]
• It were good alſo to Enforce the Spirits by ſome Mixtures, that may excite and quicken them.

Senses relating to life or states of activity.; Of a pregnant woman: to be in the state of reaching the stage of pregnancy at which the movements of the foetus are first felt.obsoletetransitive

• Venus, for Hero was her prieſt, and Iuno Lucina the midwifes goddeſſe, for ſhe was now quickned, and caſt away by the cruelty of Æolus, tooke bread and ſalt and eate it, that they would bee ſmartlie reuenged on that truculent windy iailour,

Senses relating to life or states of activity.; To take on a state of activity or vigour comparable to life; to be excited or roused.intransitive

• Born with her life, creature of poignant thirst And exquisite hunger, at her heart Love lay Quickening in darkness, till a voice that day Cried on him, and the bonds of birth were burst.
• The Chaplain's interest in the story visibly quickened.

Senses relating to life or states of activity.; To grow bright; to brighten.intransitive

• The fair each moment riſes in her charms, Repairs her ſmiles, awakens ev'ry grace, And calls forth all the wonders of her face; Sees by degrees a purer bluſh ariſe, And keener lightnings quicken in her eyes.
• She found no rest, and ever fail'd to draw The quiet night into her blood, but lay Contemplating her own unworthiness; And when the pale and bloodless east began To quicken to the sun, arose, […]

Senses relating to life or states of activity.; Of an alcoholic beverage, dough, etc.: to ferment.intransitive

To apply quicksilver (mercury) to (something); to combine (something) with quicksilver; to quicksilver.raretransitive

In full quicken tree: the European rowan, rowan, or mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia).IrelandNorthern-England

• […] Miss Wannop moved off down the path: it was only suited for Indian file, and had on the left hand a ten-foot, untrimmed quicken hedge, the hawthorn blossoms just beginning to blacken at the edges and small green haws to show.

Synonym of couch grass (“a species of grass, Elymus repens”); also (chiefly in the plural), the underground rhizomes of this, and sometimes other grasses.Northern-EnglandNorthern-IrelandScotland

• Quickens-bog may at first seem to derive its name from the plant Quicken, by which, Scotticé, we understand couch-grass, dog-grass, or the Triticum repens of [Carl] Linnæus, and the common English monosyllable Bog, by which we mean, in popu