QUICKENING

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does quickening mean? 

• QUICKENING (noun)
  The noun QUICKENING has 3 senses:

1. the process of showing signs of life

2. the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus

3. the act of accelerating; increasing the speed

  Familiarity information: QUICKENING used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• QUICKENING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The process of showing signs of life

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Context example:

the quickening of seed that will become ripe grain

Hypernyms ("quickening" is a kind of...):

biological process; organic process (a process occurring in living organisms)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("quickening" is a kind of...):

degree; level; point; stage (a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process)

Holonyms ("quickening" is a part of...):

gestation; maternity; pregnancy (the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus)

Derivation:

quicken (show signs of life)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of accelerating; increasing the speed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

acceleration; quickening; speedup

Hypernyms ("quickening" is a kind of...):

hurrying; speed; speeding (changing location rapidly)

Derivation:

quicken (move faster)

 Context examples 

I went into my own room and drew the curtains, but there was little to notice; my window opened into the courtyard, all I could see was the warm grey of quickening sky.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

At first, it was a sort of stupefaction; but every moment was quickening her perception of the horrible evil.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The hand continued slowly to descend, while he crouched beneath it, eyeing it malignantly, his snarl growing shorter and shorter as, with quickening breath, it approached its culmination.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I am sensible of no light kindling—no life quickening—no voice counselling or cheering.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The current had turned at right angles, sweeping round along with it the tall schooner and the little dancing coracle; ever quickening, ever bubbling higher, ever muttering louder, it went spinning through the narrows for the open sea.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Her conviction of being right, however, was not enough to restore her composure; till she had spoken to Miss Tilney she could not be at ease; and quickening her pace when she got clear of the Crescent, she almost ran over the remaining ground till she gained the top of Milsom Street.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Neptune has been retrograding since June 21, so this will mark a substantial and welcome quickening to the pace of events—you will see life speed up appreciably, and when you capture a goal, it will be so gratifying.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The morning was quickening in the east when we emerged from the front.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

That forest-dell, where Lowood lay, was the cradle of fog and fog-bred pestilence; which, quickening with the quickening spring, crept into the Orphan Asylum, breathed typhus through its crowded schoolroom and dormitory, and, ere May arrived, transformed the seminary into an hospital.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He was glad a little later when he noticed a change in the room, a blue quickening by the window, and realized that dawn wasn't far off.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)