[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

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
see also:
quickened quickening quick 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

quickening \quick"ening\, 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

[3] : WordNet (r) 2.0

quickening
     n 1: the process of showing signs of life; "the quickening of
          seed that will become ripe grain"
     2: the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels
        movements of the fetus
     3: the act of accelerating; increasing the speed syn: acceleration,
         speedup
see also:
acceleration speedup 

[4] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

53 moby thesaurus words for "quickening":
   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

Quickening >> Q Words
Quickening, definition of term: Quickening
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