| 释义 |
speedy, a.|ˈspiːdɪ|
Forms: 4–5 spedi, 4–6 spedy(e, 6 Sc. speidie, spidy (7 spidde); 6–7 speedie, 6– speedy.
[f. speed n. Cf. OE. spédiᵹ prosperous, wealthy, powerful, etc.; MDu. spōd-, spoedich (Du. spoedig), MLG. spôdig, G. (from LG.) spudig (obs.), sputig, spütig.]
†1. Advantageous, expedient, helpful. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 42 Þei schulle see þat it is spedy to here nedy. c1400Apol. Loll. 50 It semiþ good, spedi, and meritori, þat þe kirk be honorid. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. xii. 220 Therfore this..is a spedi condicioun and a myȝti forto helpe.
2. a. Moving, or able to move, with speed; going or travelling quickly; swift.
1375Barbour Bruce vi. 591 He bad fif of his cumpany That..on fut spediast ware..Ryn eftir hym. c1470Henry Wallace i. 230 Wallace was spedy, and gretlye als agast. 1533Bellenden Livy i. xi. (S.T.S.) I. 64 Ane knycht come to tullus on ane spedy hors. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 120 Foure swifte and speedie legions. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 421 The Barbary Horse is more speedy than the rest. 1641Milton Ch. Govt. i. vii. 41 They..can best judge how speedy we are to their relief. 1716Pope Iliad v. 54 The speedy javelin drove from back to breast. 1811Sporting Mag. XXXVII. 135 To get not only speedy but lasting racers.
absol.1742Young Nt. Th. ii. 223 Why spur the speedy? Why with levities New-wing thy..day's too rapid flight?
†b. speedy man, one formerly employed to carry from Oxford to Winchester intimations of vacancies at New College. Obs.
1825C. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 260 A speedy-man by nimbler foe Lies buried in the earth below. Ibid. note, Wm. Perkins..the New College Speedy-man.
3. a. Acting with speed; active, prompt, quick.
1504C'tess Richmond tr. De Imitatione iv. vii. (1893) 269 So neglygent vnto the seruyce of god, so spedy to thende therof. 1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 52 b, The Gospell then required speedie Preachers. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. (Arb.) 241 Expeditio, or the speedie dispatcher. 1627May Lucan iii. 19 Three sisters speedy hands cannot suffice, For breaking threads has tyr'd the Destinies. 1702in Pennsylv. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 125 Thy affairs here require a speedy hand. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §200 The mixtures..rendered the plaster less speedy in setting. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxxiv, Speak out, and be speedy.
b. That quickly becomes so.
1628Feltham Resolves ii. [i.] iii. 7, I will take heed both of a speedy friend and slow enemy. Love is never lasting that flames before it burns.
4. a. Characterized by speed of motion or progress from one place to another.
1382Wyclif Rom. i. 10 If by ony maner aftirward sum⁓tyme I haue esy, or spedy, weie in the wille of God of comynge to ȝou. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 14 He then..beyng well furnished, with spedy iorneys, came safe to his citie of London. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 39 Making speedy way through spersed ayre. 1618in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1906) I. 30 The conveyaunce would bee cheape, secure and speedy. 1685Dryden Ep. Albion & Albanius 3 Feign'd Zeal..set out the speedier Pace; But, the last Heat, Plain Dealing won the Race. a1701Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 144 The nearest and speediest way. 1797S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. (1799) I. 348 Favourable winds seemed for some time to promise them a speedy navigation. 1825Scott Talism. xxii, A horseman..had returned on a speedy gallop to El Hakim. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xvi. 118 Our progress was much more speedy than it had been on starting in the morning. Ibid. ii. ix. 273 The speedier central motion [of the glacier].
b. Of time: Passing rapidly.
1598Yong Diana 123 As she thinkes the howers of her life short and speedie.
5. a. Characterized by speed in operation or action; taking place rapidly or quickly.
1529Star Chamber Cases (Selden) II. 179 The king willing speding [? read spedy] remody for the same [sc. scarceness]. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 156 b, Wee keepe vp Cattes for the auoiding of the mischiefe, neither is there a speedier remedie. 1602Willis Stenographie A ij b, Secondly, in speedie writing: For he that is well practized in this Art, may write Verbatim, as fast as a man can treateably speake. 1653W. Ramesey Astrol. Restored 128 It denoteth good success and speedy dispatch in the business. 1678Marvell Growth Popery 21 Another Act for speedier convicting of Papists. 1726Swift Gulliver ii. vii, The speedy determination of civil and criminal causes. 1764Museum Rust. IV. 5 Therefore some speedy remedy should be applied. a1806H. K. White Lett. (1837) 273 The speedier disseminating of the blessed gospel. 1843Sir C. Scudamore Med. Visit Gräfenberg 30 An impatient desire of urging crisis for the sake of a more speedy cure. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I. iv. 149 The speedy fusion of Normans and English was greatly promoted by the fact [etc.].
b. Rapidly brought to pass or to an end; quickly accomplished, arrived at, or obtained.
The distinction between this and the prec. sense is often very slight.
1607Shakes. Cor. i. iii. 87, I will wish her speedy strength. 1648Hamilton Papers (Camden) 184 To expect opportunities to assist and serue you, of which yee will see speedy effects. 1703T. Brown Mourning Poet Wks. 1711 IV. 215 Neale started first, to raise a speedy Sum, A Million Lottery. 1747Gray Fav. Cat 33 She mew'd to ev'ry wat'ry God, Some speedy aid to send. 1803Med. Jrnl. X. 274, I flatter myself that the controversy will come to a speedy termination. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxii. IV. 701 Unless they could send him a speedy supply, his troops would..desert by thousands. 1895Law Times XCIX. 544/1 There are under the existing rules some facilities for obtaining a speedy decision in such cases.
c. speedy trial (U.S. Law), a criminal trial held after a minimum of delay, considered to be a citizen's right; also attrib.
[1776G. Mason Virginia Decl. Rights in Virginia Gaz. (Williamsburg) 1 June 2/2 In all capital or criminal prosecutions a man hath a right to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the accusers or witnesses, to call for evidence in his favour, and a speedy trial by an impartial jury. 1789J. Madison in T. Lloyd Congress. Reg. 4 June 428 In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial. 1807J. Overton Tennessee Reports (1813) I. 253 The 9th section of the bill of rights secures to the citizen a speedy, public trial, and to demand the cause of accusation against him. 1878Michigan Reports XXXVIII. 739 The right to a speedy and public trial in criminal cases by an impartial jury cannot be taken away by legislation.] 1893Southeastern Reporter (1894) XVIII. 284/1 The ‘speedy trial’, and the policy of the law to expedite the trial of criminal cases, forbid that the person accused of crime shall be detained in prison beyond any term of the court at which he can lawfully be tried. 1901Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 22 Oct. 1/6 Robt. Cameron, a penitentiary convict, before Judge Bole in the Speedy Trial court today, pleaded guilty to attempting to escape. 1926J. Black You can't Win xviii. 262, I..decided to go before the court under the Speedy Trials Act. A defendant electing for a speedy trial dispenses with a jury and saves time and money for the community. 1951F. H. Heller Sixth Amendment iv. 60 The right to a speedy trial may not be asserted merely in order to forestall the ends of public justice. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 30 June 1-c/3 Judge Sorte rejected defense motions to dismiss the charges against the couple on grounds of prejudicial pretrial news coverage and lack of a speedy trial.
6. quasi-adv. Speedily.
1601Dolman La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618) iii. 782 To trie who should goe speediest. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 12 Polimero..had put himselfe in that shippe only to get out the speedier from Birsa. 1756W. Toldervy Hist. 2 Orphans III. 108 Humphry, having some reason to remember those sort of gentry, very speedy escaped into Drury-lane. 1796J. Moser Hermit Caucasus I. 172 Are causes decided as speedy, and at as small an expence as possible? 1866S. B. James Duty & Doctrine (1871) 61 You in your future, you in your speedy-coming actual experience.
7. speedy cut, an injury on the inner side of a horse's fore leg, near the knee, caused by the foot of the opposite leg when in motion. Also as v. trans. and attrib. (sometimes with ellipse of cut).
1692Lond. Gaz. No. 2787/4 Lost,..a sorrel Gelding, full-aged,..speedy-cuts the off Leg before. 1697Ibid. No. 3351/4 A brown bay Nag,..speedy cut. 1831Youatt Horse 245 The inside of the leg, immediately under the knee,..is subject to injury from what is termed the speedy cut. 1862Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 4693, Web, Fetlock, Speedy, Splint,..and Strengthening Boots. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 464/1 The upper or speedy-cut boot, which is concaved in front to fit..the hoof-boot.
Hence † ˈspeedying vbl. n., speeding, expediting.
1617Earl Arundel in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 193 For the speedying whereof..I doubt not but your Lordships' persuasions may prevail. 1650Fuller Pisgah ii. v. vi. 202 For the speedying of whose conversion he pleased to compose the many different judgments of Christians into one truth. |