quick

Everyday

1. Quick means fast; doing something or happening in a short time. tree →
2. A quick person understands or reacts fast. tree →
3. Quick can mean short and done without much time, like a quick look or a quick snack. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life «quick» is about speed and short time: «a quick shower», «Be quick!», «Quick, hide!». In safety, quick thinking can help in an emergency, but being too quick can cause accidents, so crossing roads should be careful, not rushed. In maths «a quick way» to solve a problem is a short method, and a «quick check» means estimating to see if an answer makes sense. In stories a quick fox or a quick-witted hero is fast or clever.

Examples

• That was a quick lunch; we only had ten minutes. tree →
• Be quick, the bus is coming! tree →
• She is quick at mental maths. tree →
• Can I have a quick look at your book? tree →
• Cheetahs are the quickest animals on land. tree →
• He gave a quick answer without thinking. tree →
• Let's do a quick check by rounding the numbers. tree →
• Quick, close the gate before the dog gets out! tree →
• Quick, Chuchundra, or I’ll bite you!” tree →

Note

Comparative «quicker», superlative «quickest». The adverb is usually «quickly» (run quickly); «come quick» is informal. «Quick» stresses short time; «fast» stresses speed, but they often swap. Old phrase «the quick and the dead» uses «quick» = alive. In maths, «quicker» means less time taken, so the smaller number of minutes is the quicker one.

In Jewish tradition

It means living, so "quick flesh" is healthy living flesh, as in the old saying "the quick and the dead".

Interpretation. The priest checks for quick raw flesh in the law of skin disease (tzaraat), where it is a sign that the skin is unclean.

Examples

• Or when the flesh hath in the skin thereof a burning by fire, and the quick flesh of the burning become a bright spot, reddish-white, or white; (Torah LEV.13.24, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the priest shall look, and, behold, if there be a white rising in the skin, and it have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising, (Torah LEV.13.10, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Comparative «quicker», superlative «quickest». The adverb is usually «quickly» (run quickly); «come quick» is informal. «Quick» stresses short time; «fast» stresses speed, but they often swap. Old phrase «the quick and the dead» uses «quick» = alive. In maths, «quicker» means less time taken, so the smaller number of minutes is the quicker one.

Early Modern English

Meaning

Alive, living; in the texts it means living flesh, not dead; today it means fast. tree →

Then and now

Today it means fast or speedy; the old sense "alive" is used in the Torah, while the fairy tale sentence uses the modern sense of fast.

Examples

• Or when the flesh hath in the skin thereof a burning by fire, and the quick flesh of the burning become a bright spot, reddish-white, or white; (Torah LEV.13.24, JPS 1917) tree →
• Quick, Chuchundra, or I’ll bite you!” (The Jungle Book) tree →
• And the priest shall look, and, behold, if there be a white rising in the skin, and it have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising, (Torah LEV.13.10, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Today: alive; fast.