n. [ OE. faste, fast; cf. AS. fæsten, OHG. fasta, G. faste. See Fast, v. i. ] 1. Abstinence from food; omission to take nourishment. [ 1913 Webster ]

Surfeit is the father of much fast. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Voluntary abstinence from food, for a space of time, as a spiritual discipline, or as a token of religious humiliation. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A time of fasting, whether a day, week, or longer time; a period of abstinence from food or certain kinds of food; as, an annual fast. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fast day, a day appointed for fasting, humiliation, and religious offices as a means of invoking the favor of God. --
To break one's fast, to put an end to a period of abstinence by taking food; especially, to take one's morning meal; to breakfast. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. That which fastens or holds; especially, (Naut.) a mooring rope, hawser, or chain; -- called, according to its position, a bow, head, quarter, breast, or stern fast; also, a post on a pier around which hawsers are passed in mooring. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Faster superl. Fastest ] [ OE., firm, strong, not loose, AS. fæst; akin to OS. fast, D. vast, OHG. fasti, festi, G. fest, Icel. fastr, Sw. & Dan. fast, and perh. to E. fetter. The sense swift comes from the idea of keeping close to what is pursued; a Scandinavian use. Cf. Fast, adv., Fast, v., Avast. ] 1. Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose, unstable, or easily moved; immovable; as, to make fast the door. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is an order that keeps things fast. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong. [ 1913 Webster ]

Outlaws . . . lurking in woods and fast places. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Firm in adherence; steadfast; not easily separated or alienated; faithful; as, a fast friend. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Permanent; not liable to fade by exposure to air or by washing; durable; lasting; as, fast colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Tenacious; retentive. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Not easily disturbed or broken; deep; sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

All this while in a most fast sleep. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Moving rapidly; quick in mition; rapid; swift; as, a fast horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Given to pleasure seeking; disregardful of restraint; reckless; wild; dissipated; dissolute; as, a fast man; a fast liver. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. In such a condition, as to resilience, etc., as to make possible unusual rapidity of play or action; as, a fast racket, or tennis court; a fast track; a fast billiard table, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Fast and loose, now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant, esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose, to play fast and loose, to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another. “Play fast and loose with faith.” Shak. --
Fast and loose pulleys (Mach.), two pulleys placed side by side on a revolving shaft, which is driven from another shaft by a band, and arranged to disengage and reëngage the machinery driven thereby. When the machinery is to be stopped, the band is transferred from the pulley fixed to the shaft to the pulley which revolves freely upon it, and vice versa. --
Hard and fast (Naut.), so completely aground as to be immovable. --
To make fast (Naut.), to make secure; to fasten firmly, as a vessel, a rope, or a door. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ OE. faste firmly, strongly, quickly, AS. fæste. See Fast, a. ] 1. In a fast, fixed, or firmly established manner; fixedly; firmly; immovably. [ 1913 Webster ]

We will bind thee fast. Judg. xv. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In a fast or rapid manner; quickly; swiftly; extravagantly; wildly; as, to run fast; to live fast. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fast by, or
Fast beside, close or near to; near at hand. [ 1913 Webster ]

He, after Eve seduced, unminded slunk
Into the wood fast by. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fast by the throne obsequious Fame resides. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Fasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fasting. ] [ AS. fæstan; akin to D. vasten, OHG. fastēn, G. fasten, Icel. & Sw. fasta, Dan. faste, Goth. fastan to keep, observe, fast, and prob. to E. fast firm. ] 1. To abstain from food; to omit to take nourishment in whole or in part; to go hungry. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To practice abstinence as a religious exercise or duty; to abstain from food voluntarily for a time, for the mortification of the body or appetites, or as a token of grief, or humiliation and penitence. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou didst fast and weep for the child. 2 Sam. xii. 21. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fasting day, a fast day; a day of fasting. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Baseball) a baseball thrown with maximum velocity.
Syn. -- heater, smoke, hummer, bullet. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (basketball) a rapid dash to get a shot at one's own basket as soon as possible after taking possession of the ball; -- often occurring after the opposing team has shot at their basket. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Fastened p. pr. & vb. n. Fastening ] [ AS. fæstnian; akin to OHG. festinōn. See Fast, a. ] 1. To fix firmly; to make fast; to secure, as by a knot, lock, bolt, etc.; as, to fasten a chain to the feet; to fasten a door or window. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cause to hold together or to something else; to attach or unite firmly; to cause to cleave to something , or to cleave together, by any means; as, to fasten boards together with nails or cords; to fasten anything in our thoughts. [ 1913 Webster ]

The words Whig and Tory have been pressed to the service of many successions of parties, with very different ideas fastened to them. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cause to take close effect; to make to tell; to lay on; as, to fasten a blow. [ Obs. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

If I can fasten but one cup upon him. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To fasten a charge upon or
To fasten a crime upon, to make his guilt certain, or so probable as to be generally believed. --
To fasten one's eyes upon, to look upon steadily without cessation. Acts iii. 4.

Syn. -- To fix; cement; stick; link; affix; annex. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To fix one's self; to take firm hold; to clinch; to cling. [ 1913 Webster ]

A horse leech will hardly fasten on a fish. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. affixed. Opposite of unaffixed.
Syn. -- secured. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. secured against opening; -- of doors, hatches, etc.
Syn. -- latched. [ WordNet 1.5 ]