QUICKENING
acceleration, quickening, speedup
(noun) the act of accelerating; increasing the speed
quickening
(noun) the process of showing signs of life; “the quickening of seed that will become ripe grain”
quickening
(noun) the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Verb
quickening
present participle of quicken
Noun
quickening (plural quickenings)
An increase of speed.
The action of bringing someone or something to life.
The first noticable movements of a foetus during pregnancy, or the period when this occurs.
Stimulation, excitement (of a feeling, emotion etc.).
Source: Wiktionary
Quick"en*ing, n.
1. The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
2. (Physiol.)
Definition: 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.
QUICKEN
Quick"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. quickened; p. pr. & vb. n. Quickening.]
Etym: [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.
The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead. Shak.
Like a fruitful garden without an hedge, that quickens the appetite
to enjoy so tempting a prize. South.
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.
3. (Shipbuilding)
Definition: 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.
Syn.
– To revive; resuscitate; animate; reinvigorate; vivify; refresh;
stimulate; sharpen; incite; hasten; accelerate; expedite; dispatch;
speed.
Quick"en, v. i.
1. To come to life; to become alive; to become vivified or enlivened;
hence, to exhibit signs of life; to move, as the fetus in the womb.
The heart is the first part that quickens, and the last that dies.
Ray.
And keener lightnings quicken in her eye. Pope.
When the pale and bloodless east began To quicken to the sun.
Tennyson.
2. To move with rapidity or activity; to become accelerated; as, his
pulse quickened.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition