Quickening

noun, verb

noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An increase of speed.

    "If the following guide lose his distance from the one leading (which can only happen by his own fault), he will correct himself by slightly lengthening or shortening a few steps, in order that there may not be sudden quickenings or slackenings in the march of his platoon."

  2. 2
    the act of accelerating; increasing the speed wordnet
  3. 3
    The action of bringing someone or something to life.
  4. 4
    the process of showing signs of life wordnet
  5. 5
    The first noticeable movements of a foetus during pregnancy, or the period when this occurs.
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  1. 6
    the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus wordnet
  2. 7
    Stimulation, excitement (of a feeling, emotion etc.).

    "It may indeed be said that these days brought on a high quickening of Maisie's direct perceptions, of her sense of freedom to make out things for herself."

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of quicken form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms
accelerationaccelerationactivatinganimatinganimationanimative

Example

More examples

"I can feel my pulse quickening already."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.