Fast vs Small - What's the difference?

As a verb fast

is .

As a proper noun small is

fast

English

(wikipedia fast)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) fast, from (etyl) ; see it for cognates and further etymology. The development of “rapid” from an original sense of “secure” apparently happened first in the adverb and then transferred to the adjective; compare (hard) in expressions like “to run hard”. The original sense of “secure, firm” is now slightly archaic, but retained in the related .

Adjective

(er)

(dated) Firmly or securely fixed in place; stable.

That rope is dangerously loose. Make it fast !

Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong.

* Spenser

outlaws lurking in woods and fast places

(of people) Steadfast, with unwavering feeling. (Now only in set phrases like "fast friend".)

Moving with great speed, or capable of doing so; swift, rapid.

I am going to buy a fast car.

(computing, of a piece of hardware) Able to transfer data in a short period of time.

Deep or sound (of sleep); fast asleep (of people).

* Shakespeare

all this while in a most fast sleep

(of dyes or colours) Not running or fading when subjected to detrimental conditions such as wetness or intense light; permanent.

All the washing has come out pink. That red tee-shirt was not fast .

(obsolete) Tenacious; retentive.

* Francis Bacon

Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells.

(colloquial) Having an extravagant lifestyle or immoral habits.

She's fast – she slept with him on their first date. .

Ahead of the correct time or schedule.

There must be something wrong with the hall clock. It is always fast .

(of photographic film) More sensitive to light than average.

Synonyms

* (occurring or happening within a short time) quick, rapid, speedy, swift * (capable of moving with great speed) quick, rapid, speedy * (ahead of the correct time or schedule) ahead * (rapidly consents to sexual activity) easy, slutty * (firmly or securely fixed in place) firm, immobile, secure, stable, stuck, tight * (firm against attack) fortified, impenetrable * colour-fast * deep, sound

Antonyms

* (occurring or happening within a short time) slow * (ahead of the correct time or schedule) slow, behind * (firmly or securely fixed in place) loose * (firm against attack) penetrable, weak * light

Derived terms

* bedfast * chairfast * fasten (rapid) * fast and furious * fast food * fast-forward

Adverb

(er)

In a firm or secure manner, securely; in such a way as not to be moved .

(of sleeping) Deeply or soundly .

Immediately following in place or time; close, very near .

Quickly, with great speed; within a short time .

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-17, volume=408, issue=8849, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Pennies streaming from heaven , passage=Faster than a speeding bit, the internet upended media and entertainment companies. Piracy soared, and sales of albums and films slid. Newspapers lost advertising and readers to websites. Stores selling books, CDs and DVDs went bust. Doomsayers predicted that consumers and advertisers would abandon pay-television en masse in favour of online alternatives.}}

Ahead of the correct time or schedule.

Synonyms

* (quickly) quickly, rapidly, speedily, swiftly * (in a firm or secure manner) firmly, securely, tightly * deeply * (ahead of the correct time or schedule) ahead

Antonyms

* (quickly) slowly * (in a firm or secure manner) loosely * lightly * (ahead of the correct time or schedule) behind

Noun

(en noun)

(British, rail transport) A train that calls at only some stations it passes between its origin and destination, typically just the principal stations

Synonyms

* (rail transport) express, express train, fast train

Antonyms

* (rail transport) local, slow train, stopper

Interjection

(en interjection)

(archery) Short for "stand fast", a warning not to pass between the arrow and the target

Antonyms

* (archery) loose

Etymology 2

From (etyl) fasten, from (etyl) . The noun is probably from (etyl) fasta.

Verb

(en verb)

To abstain from food, or eat very little, especially for religious or medical reasons.

Muslims fast during Ramadan.

* Bible, 2 Sam. xii. 21

Thou didst fast and weep for the child.

* Milton

Fasting' he went to sleep, and ' fasting waked.

* 2007 , John Zerzan, Silence , p. 3,

It is at the core of the Vision Quest, the solitary period of fasting and closeness to the earth to discover one's life path and purpose.

Noun

(en noun)

The act or practice of abstaining from food or of eating very little food

The period of time during which one abstains from or eats very little food

* Lent and Ramadan are fasts of two religions.

Synonyms

* (act or practice) fasting

Derived terms

* break one's fast * breakfast * fast day

Statistics

Anagrams

* * * English contranyms English terms with multiple etymologies 1000 English basic words ----

small

English

Adjective

(er)

Not large or big; insignificant; few in numbers or size.

* , chapter=5

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Engineers of a different kind , passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.}}

(figuratively) Young, as a child.

(writing, incomparable) Minuscule or lowercase, referring to written letters.

Envincing little worth or ability; not large-minded; paltry; mean.

* Carlyle

A true delineation of the smallest man is capable of interesting the greatest man.

Not prolonged in duration; not extended in time; short.

a small space of time

Synonyms

* (not large or big) little, microscopic, minuscule, minute, tiny; see also * little, wee (Scottish), young * (of written letters) lowercase, minuscule

Antonyms

* See also * (not large or big) capital, big, generous (said of an amount of something given), large * adult, grown-up, old * (of written letters) big, capital, majuscule, uppercase

Derived terms

* small arm * small arms * small beer * small calorie * small-cell lung cancer * small change * small claims court * smallclothes * smaller European elm bark beetle * small forward * small fry * smallgoods * smallholder * smallholding * small hours * small intestine * smallish * small-minded * smallmouth * smallmouth bass * smallmouth black bass * smallness * small potatoes * smallpox * smalls * small-scale * small screen * small stuff * smallsword * small talk * small-time * * small wonder * twice as small * twice as small as

Adverb

(er)

In a small fashion.

* (William Shakespeare), (w, A Midsummer Night's Dream) , Act I, scene 2, line 49:

That's all one: you shall play it in a mask, and / you may speak as small as you will.

In or into small pieces.

* 2009 , Ingrid Hoffman, CBS Early Morning for September 28, 2009 (transcription)

That's going to go in there. We've got some chives small chopped as well.

(obsolete) To a small extent.

* (rfdate) (William Shakespeare), Sonnets , "Lucrece", line 1273

It small avails my mood.

Derived terms

* writ small

Noun

(en noun)

Any part of something that is smaller or slimmer than the rest, now usually with anatomical reference to the back.

(UK, in the plural) Underclothes.

Derived terms

* small of the back

Verb

(en verb)

(obsolete) To make little or less.

To become small; to dwindle.

* Thomas Hardy

And smalled till she was nought at all.

Statistics

Anagrams

* malls 100 English basic words 1000 English basic words ----