rapidadj.adv.n.
/ˈrapɪd/, U.S. /ˈræpəd/ A. adj.
1. Characterized by speed; quick, swift, fast.
a. Of motion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > [adjective] > specifically of movement or action
radeOE
swifta1050
smarta1325
quickc1325
round1525
main1567
rapid1605
slashing1824
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. ii. 66 Water..Tempers the heat, caus'd by their [sc. the Globes'] rapid turning [Fr. leurs prompts mouvemens].
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 138 With rapid Course [the river Po] seeks the sacred Main. View more context for this quotation
1730 J. Thomson Autumn in Seasons 158 Turn we a moment Fancy's rapid flight To vigorous soils.
1771 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1769 182 The grinder pours the corn into the hole with one hand, and with the other turns round the upper stone with a very rapid motion.
1816 P. B. Shelley Alastor 36 With rapid steps he went Beneath the shade of trees.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxvii. 212 I observed a rapid movement on the part of the remaining three men.
1883 E. Ingersoll Knocking around Rockies 214 The mules have been well-behaved all day. Plodding along in front of you at a rapid walk.
1915 St. Nicholas June 757/2 A small plaintive ‘Oh, dear? Oh, dear?’ stopped him in his rapid transit.
1963 A. H. Franks Social Dance v. 111 Those with an excess of energy therefore released it on the dance floor by means of running sequences made with rapid steps.
1990 J. Aiken Jane Fairfax viii. 131 Jane walked ahead at a rapid pace to catch up with Rachel.
b. Of speech.
ΚΠ
1701 View of Paris 34 Pronunciation is so rapid and precipitate, that one would swear they find a pleasure in not being understood.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy V. iii. 35 My father's eloquence was too rapid to stay for any man.
1787 G. Gregory tr. R. Lowth Lect. Sacred Poetry Hebrews I. i. 37 They burst forth in sentences pointed, earnest, rapid, and tremulous.
1835 R. Browning Paracelsus v. 161 I heard my name amid those rapid words.
1898 T. N. Page Red Rock xxxvii. 462 Steve, still listening to Jacquelin's rapid speech, rose slowly to get the bond lying on the bar.
1929 F. Densmore Pawnee Music 53 It is in accordance with Indian custom to interject rapid sentences between renditions of a war song.
1965 P. Strevens Papers in Lang. ix. 114 In rapid speech the consonant may be omitted, leaving a nasalized vowel.
2007 Hertford (Connecticut) Courant (Nexis) 6 Jan. d10 The sound hits you like a jackhammer of rapid words.
2. Moving, or capable of moving, with speed; swift, fast.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > [adjective]
swiftc888
swifta1050
currentc1300
quickc1300
hastivea1325
hastyc1330
ingnel1340
swiftyc1380
speedfula1387
fasta1400
swippingc1420
speedy1487
fleet1528
tite?a1540
scudding1545
flighty1552
suddenly1556
flight1581
feathered1587
Pegasean1590
wing-footed1591
swift-winged?1592
thought-swift-flying1595
wind-winged?1596
swallow-winged1597
Pegasarian1607
skelping1607
rapid1608
night-swifta1616
celerious1632
clipping1635
perniciousa1656
volatile1655
quick-foot1658
meteorous1667
windy1697
high-flying1710
fleet-footed1726
aliped1727
wickc1760
velocious1775
flight-performing1785
fast-going1800
fast-moving1802
meteor1803
wight-wapping1830
fleety1841
speeding1847
swiftening1848
two-forty1855
fire-swift1865
pennate1870
spinning1882
percursory1884
zippy1889
meteoric1895
pacy1906
presto1952
1608 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 99 Immediatly he cleaves An vn-couth way through Iordan's rapid waves.
1625 K. Long tr. J. Barclay Argenis iv. iii. 248 Our Seas with rapid Monsters rore.
1634 T. Carew Cœlum Britanicum 29 Be fix'd you rapid Orbes, that beare The changing seasons of the yeare On your swift wings.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 532 Part..shun the Goal With rapid wheels. View more context for this quotation
a1771 T. Gray Fragm. Hymn to Ignorance 177 in Poems (1775) ii Her rapid wings the transient scene pursue.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xvii. 847 On rapid feet Sped to Achilles.
1831 H. T. De la Beche Geol. Man. iv. 202 This river was at first by no means rapid, and afterwards acquired considerable velocity.
1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighb. (1878) xxvii. 466 A space..sufficient to show the persons even of rapid riders.
1895 J. Conrad Almayer's Folly i. 11 The scratch of rapid pens.
1910 C. Markham Incas of Peru xii. 180 The ruins of an extensive Incarial fortress and palace, called Hervay, exist on a defensive hill close to the sea, flanked by a rapid river on one side and the desert on the other.
1919 Times 29 July 7/1 Nowadays cheap and rapid transport is regarded in every household as an essential.
1992 W. Hoskins Making of Eng. Landscape (BNC) 178 Coalbrookdale..was chosen by the Darbys for their ironworks because here a rapid stream entered the broad navigable waterway of the Severn.
3.
a. Taking place with speed; accomplished, attained, etc., within a short time; coming quickly into existence or to completion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > rapidity or speed of action or operation > [adjective] > quickly done or obtained
expeditiousa1616
speedya1616
expeditive1617
rapid1661
fast1863
quickie1927
fast track1968
fast-tracked1976
1661 T. Ross tr. Silius Italicus Second Punick War xv. 428 With a rapid Fall into the Main, The Billows fled.
1697 D. Jones Secret Hist. White-Hall viii. 28 They carried the War, and that with such rapid Success, that they not only ravaged Artois, Hainault and other Parts of the Netherlands in a short time, but also took Charleroy, Oudenard, Aeth, Courtray and Lisle.
1729 T. Odell Smugglers iii. 62 Swift the Moments pass which intervene, E'er Fate or Justice, sure to shift the Scene, With rapid Vengeance blasts their guilty Store.
a1780 J. Harris Philol. Inq. (1781) iii. vi. 327 The rapid victories of these Eastern conquerors soon carried their empire from Asia even into the remote regions of Spain.
1840 T. B. Macaulay Ld. Clive 84 A rapid succession of weak administrations..had held the semblance of power.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People viii. §5. 504 Charles had good ground for this rapid confidence in his new minister.
1939 H. G. Armstrong Aviation Med. xxi. 342 A rapid decrease of pressure below 1 atmosphere, such as may occur in aircraft flights to high altitude.
1960 R. F. Woodsmall Women & New East v. 199 The rapid expansion of literacy in rural Indonesia has been largely due to the work of volunteers.
1990 A. Stevens On Jung vii. 152 Jung's professional advancement was rapid.
b. Of a slope: descending or ascending quickly; steep, sudden.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > slope > [adjective] > steep
stickleOE
steepc1175
shore14..
steyc1480
proclive1524
steeping1530
brant1545
steepy1565
abrupt1591
dreich1597
downsteepy1603
acclive1616
arduous1711
sharp1725
acclivous1730
rapid1785
declivitous1799
acclivitous1803
scarped1823
proclivitous1860
stoss1878
resequent1906
1785 H. Swinburne Trav. in Two Sicilies II. xxxiv. 243 The eastern hill..falls with a rapid slope towards the sea.
1855 Times 15 Nov. 6/6 The huts of the Highland Division are..in terraces on a rapid slope.
1870 Good Words Feb. 133/2 The slope [is] so rapid that you can scarcely find footing when once off the beaten road.
1951 J. Raftery Prehist. Ireland vii. 85 (caption) Note the rather rapid slope from one end to the other, a common feature of different types of Irish megaliths.
2004 Sunday Mail (Glasgow) (Nexis) 11 July 20 A green guarded by [a] network of bunkers with rapid slopes off the back.
4. Quick in action or discourse; (also) quick in understanding; keen, sharp, vigorous.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > sharpness, shrewdness, insight > [adjective]
sharpc888
yepec1000
spacka1200
yare-witelc1275
fellc1300
yap13..
seeinga1382
far-castinga1387
sightya1400
perceivinga1425
snellc1425
politic?a1439
quickc1449
pregnant?a1475
pert1484
quick-wittedc1525
apt1535
intelligentc1540
queemc1540
ready-witted1576
political1577
of (a) great, deep, etc., reach1579
conceited1583
perspicuous1584
sharp-witteda1586
shrewd1589
inseeing1590
conceived1596
acute1598
pregnate1598
agile1599
nimble-headed1601
insighted1602
nimble1604
nimble-witted1604
penetrant1605
penetrating1606
spraga1616
acuminous1619
discoursing1625
smart1639
penetrativea1641
sagacious1650
nasute1653
acuminate1654
blunt-sharpa1661
long-headed1665
smoky1688
rapid1693
keen1704
gash1706
snack1710
cute1731
mobile1778
wide awake1785
acuminated1786
quick-minded1789
kicky1790
snap1790
downy1803
snacky1806
unbaffleable1827
varmint1829
needle-sharp1836
nimble-brained1836
incisivea1850
spry1849
fast1850
snappy1871
hard-boiled1884
on the spot1903
1693 E. Bohun Char. Queen Elizabeth 366 Nor ought George Cone, a Scot, to be passed over in silence, who in his History of the Life of Mary Queen of the Scots, has persecuted the Memory of Queen Elizabeth with a rapid Fury.
1700 J. Dryden Fables Pref. sig. *A2v Homer was rapid in his Thoughts.
1777 S. J. Pratt Pupil of Pleasure (ed. 2) I. lviii. 228 The lively Delia—a wit, a corresponder, a perfect pen-woman; ready, rapid, an asker of whys and wherefores.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xviii. 90 The custom of their warriors, to lead in their hand one or two spare horses, enabled them to advance and to retreat with a rapid diligence.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. ii. 136 On that he leaned, and, rapid, thus began.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna iii. vii. 60 Ere with rapid lips and gathered brow I could demand the cause.
1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey III. v. iv. 76 He saw the student was a rapid drinker.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola I. iii. 63 A rapid intellect and ready eloquence may carry off a little impudence.
1908 A. I. Dasent John Thadeus Delane II. i. 3 The imperturbable calm with which he was wont to receive even the most momentous news may have caused those who only knew him superficially..to imagine that he was not a rapid thinker.
1954 M. Henrey Month in Paris xi. 95 Famous names leap elegantly from her rapid tongue.
2003 Truth (Auckland, N.Z.) (Nexis) 8 Aug. 39 This kid's a rapid learner and has all the natural instincts and talents to make it to the very top.
5. Photography. Of a lens: having a large aperture, and so requiring less exposure time; (of a plate or film) needing only a brief exposure; = fast adj. 13. See also rapid rectilinear at rectilinear n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > camera > parts and accessories of camera > [adjective] > types of lens
flat field1841
wide-angle1865
slow1867
wide-angled1873
fast1877
rapid1878
fish-eye1882
sharp1883
symmetrical1890
telephotographic1891
telephotographic lens1891
narrow-angle1893
stigmatic1896
tele-negative1898
tele-positive1898
bloomed1945
soft1945
wide-field1950
1878 W. de W. Abney Treat. Photogr. 292 A magnifying lens, which takes the form known as ‘the rapid rectilinear’.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 38 Your long exposure was not on the most rapid plate you had with you.
1902 Amateur Photographer 30 Jan. 100/1 Expose a rapid plate..to its rays for five minutes.
1927 C. B. Neblette Photogr. ix. 238 The inertia is an inverse measure of the speed of the plate: that is to say, a slow plate has a high inertia while a rapid plate has a low inertia.
1972 Jrnl. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 82 415 Dallmeyer rapid rectilinear lens.
1990 Oxf. Art Jrnl. 13 70 There sprang up special chemical formula[s] for children, rapid plates for children, backgrounds for children and baby lenses.
B. adv.
Rapidly, with rapidity.Now chiefly colloquial except in compounds (cf. Compounds 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > [adverb]
yeverlyeOE
cofeOE
snellya1000
whatlichea1000
swiftlyc1000
yernea1023
skeetc1175
swithc1175
whatec1175
lightly?c1225
tidelyc1225
fastlyc1275
swithc1275
fastc1300
quickc1300
titec1300
quicklya1325
rada1325
snellc1330
titelyc1330
swithly?1370
hastlya1375
ketlya1375
ketec1380
speedlyc1380
speedfully1398
keenlya1400
skeetlya1400
speedilya1400
swiftc1400
yederlyc1400
apacea1423
rasha1475
runninglyc1475
speedful?c1480
rackly?a1500
rashly1533
stiffly1535
roundly1548
post1549
fleet1587
fleetly1598
speedy1601
raptly1646
fastisha1650
wingedly1651
rapidly1653
rapid1677
velociously1680
express1765
quicklike1782
spankingly1803
spankily1842
fleetingly1883
quick-foot1891
on the quick-foot1894
zippily1924
1677 E. Settle Ibrahim v. 61 Great blessings like swift torrents always run Too rapid to stay long.
1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Of Pythagorean Philos. in Fables 519 Large Amenane, impure with yellow Sands, Runs rapid often, and as often stands.
1763 T. Percy Five Pieces Runic Poetry 54 My song will flow more rapid.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. viii. 381 Ajax,..advancing rapid, stalk'd Around him.
1810 Splendid Follies II. 59 The hours winged away uncommonly rapid with Freelove.
1849 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton (ed. 3) I. x. 189 I'm so grieved to find you so deaf; it must have come on very rapid.
1880 T. Hardy Trumpet-major I. xiv. 260 'Nater will find her way very rapid when the time's come for't.
2002 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 8 Sept. 11 Go too rapid and you get stranded 30 lengths clear with the race itself unravelling entirely at its own rhythm.
C. n.
1. Originally North American. Usually in plural, with singular or plural agreement. A section of a river with a very swift and turbulent current, caused by a descent in the river bed or by material (esp. rocks) breaking the flow of the water. Also figurative. Cf. shoot v. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > system > [noun] > rapids
white water1482
sault1600
shoota1609
stickle1616
swift1661
rift1727
rapid1744
rattle1770
rip1775
riffle1865
spate1884
1744 A. Dobbs Acct. Countries adjoining Hudson's Bay 67 The difficulty and danger attending the making settlements higher up on the rivers, and navigating them, they being so full of falls and rapids.
1765 G. Croghan Jrnl. 2 June in R. G. Thwaites Early Western Trav. (1904) I. 136 What is called the Fall here, is no more than rapids.
1792 G. Imlay Topogr. Descr. Western Territory N. Amer. 47 The Rapids of the Ohio..are occasioned by a ledge of rocks which stretch across the bed of the river.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Witch of Atlas xli, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 42 Mortal boat In such a shallow rapid could not float.
1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine (1858) vii. 282 It plunges through twenty-seven rapids, through a fall of a thousand feet.
1900 G. B. Shaw Let. 11 Apr. (1972) II. 157 We steered the Society safely through a rapid in which it might have been wrecked.
1911 G. K. Chesterton Innocence of Father Brown x. 265 She was already in the rapids of an ethical tirade about the ‘sickly medical notions’.
1978 J. Bacque Big Lonely (new ed.) x. 171 You hear maybe a rapids far away that you can't hear any other time of day running in the woods where you paddled down yesterday.
2002 D. Danvers Watch iii. 35 She is trying to explain some bureaucratic rapids the family must navigate to obtain unspecified aid.
2. Shooting. An instance of rapid fire; a burst of rapid-fire shooting. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [noun] > type of firing
point and blank1590
false fire1602
potting1613
point-blank1614
running fire1629
pounding1633
bulleting1635
platooning1706
sharp-shot1725
street firing1727
ricochet1740
fire curtain1744
plunging fire1747
reverse fire1758
sniping1773
enfilade1796
rapid fire1800
line-firing1802
concentric1804
sharpshooting1806
rake1810
sniping fire1821
cross-firing1837
file-firing1837
curved fire1854
night firing1856
file-fire1857
volley-firing1859
cross-fire1860
joy-firing1864
snap-shooting1872
stringing1873
pot-shooting1874
indirect fire1879
sweeping1907
rapid1913
curtain of fire1916
ripple1939
ripple-firing1940
ripple fire1961
1913 A. G. Fulton Notes on Rifle Shooting 20 A man who is a good deliberate shot can, with very little practice, become good at ‘rapids’.
1923 R. Kipling Irish Guards in Great War II. 142 They indulged the enemy..with five minutes' ‘rapid’ of Lewis-guns or rifles.
1932 J. A. Barlow Elem. Rifle Shooting v. 62 It is this conflict between the desire to have the aim correct before firing, and the desire to let the round off before too much time is wasted, which is the most usual cause of bad rapids.
Compounds
C1. Compounds of the adjective.
rapid application development n. Computing a form of application development in which the time required for development is reduced, so that changing requirements during the course of development do not invalidate the end product; abbreviated RAD.
ΚΠ
1981 ICL Techn. Jrnl. 2 379 ICL's Rapid Application Development System (RADS) is a new programming language..designed to support the development of commercial data processing applications.
1991 J. Martin Rapid Applic. Devel. i. 5 High quality, lower cost and rapid development..go hand-in-hand if an appropriate development methodology is used... We use the term RAD, Rapid Application Development, to refer to such a methodology.
1998 Wastes Managem. Feb. 23/1 The system is PC-based and..it is said to be the first such system to be developed specifically to take advantage of Rapid Application Development (RAD) technology.
rapid deployment adj. Military (originally U.S.) of or designating a military unit kept in a state of readiness to deploy rapidly; = rapid-reaction adj. 2; esp. in rapid deployment force.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > group with special function or duty > [adjective] > organized for rapid movement
volant1548
running1592
velitary1600
expedite1609
flying1665
mobile1879
quick-reaction1961
rapid deployment1967
rapid-reaction1968
1967 U.S. Maritime Policy (U.S. Senate Comm. on Commerce) 61 These rapid deployment forces are designed to perform highly specialized military missions.
1993 Time Internat. 18 Jan. 13/2 The centrepiece of the plan..is a proposal for the creation..of rapid deployment units that could serve under the U.N. flag.
2001 Times 16 Nov. i. 8/5 Canada said that it had offered to provide 1,000 rapid-deployment soldiers.
2005 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 10 Jan. 4 The 16 Air Assault Brigade, an elite group who form the spearhead of the British Army's rapid deployment force.
rapid eye movement n. (originally) any type of quick movement of the eyes, esp. saccadic movements; (in later use) spec. quick, jerky movements of the eyes occurring during the deep stage of sleep in which dreaming occurs (frequently attributive in rapid eye movement sleep) (cf. REM n.2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [noun] > other specific types
subetha1398
rapid eye movement1900
dream sleep1902
REM1957
1900 F. Warner Nerv. Syst. Child vii. 146 Cricket cultivates rapid eye-movements, and practice makes an apt cricketer.
1916 Psychol. Bull. 13 422 German and Scandinavian writers are commonly using the descriptive class term ‘saccadic’ to denote the rapid eye-movements for which we have only the arbitrary name of ‘type 1’.
1953 E. Aserinsky & N. Kleitman in Federation Proc. (Federation Amer. Soc. Exper. Biol.) 12 6/2 Rapid eye movements..were observed to appear from 2 to 5 hr...after the onset of sleep in 10 subjects.
1968 Brit. Med. Bull. 24 257/1 There is a reduction in the amplitude of the evoked response during rapid eye-movement sleep as compared with slow wave sleep.
2002 Independent 26 Jan. (Mag.) 18/4 One of the initial stages of sleep—slow wave, or ‘obligatory sleep’, as one sleep expert calls it—lets the brain recharge more than other stages, such as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.
rapid prototyping n. Computing and Engineering the rapid production of a prototype; spec. computer-controlled generation of a physical object (as a model or a finished part) from a virtual object.
ΚΠ
1982 Computerworld 7 June 26/5 Inform is a fourth-generation, user-friendly language that reportedly shortens the software coding and testing cycle up to 80% compared to conventional programming. The language is said to provide this large increase in application productivity through rapid prototyping, quicker maintenance, [etc.].
1990 United Press Internat. Newswire (Nexis) 4 June ‘Desktop manufacturing’ was invented in 1987 by 3D Systems Inc. of Sylmar, Calif., and close to 200 companies have already ordered equipment for their operations. Also known as ‘rapid prototyping’, it allows manufacturers to build three-dimensional plastic models in minutes or hours instead of the standard days or weeks with conventional tooling.
2001 P. Anton et al. Global Technol. Revol. ii. 13 It may become commonplace to manufacture custom ceramic replacement bones for injured hands, feet, and skull parts by combining computer tomography and ‘rapid prototyping’..to reverse engineer new bones layer by layer.
rapid-response adj. that gives a quick response; spec. designating a team or unit of people who are deployed to deal with an incident or situation as soon as possible.
ΚΠ
1955 Geogr. Jrnl. 121 381 Another striking method also using a form of echo-sounding is to fly an aircraft fitted with a narrow-beam rapid-response radar altimeter at about 150 feet above the sea.
1979 Summary World Broadcasts Pt. 1: U.S.S.R. (B.B.C.) (Nexis) 13 Aug. SU/6192/A4/2 A 100,000-strong rapid response corps is being created, which..could be sent if necessary to the oil-rich countries of the Persian Gulf.
1995 L. Tullis Unintended Consequences iv. 106 A rapid-response team of specialized federal judicial police agents who interdict airborne South American cocaine traffic.
C2. Compounds of the adverb, as rapid-firing, rapid-growing, rapid-hardening, rapid-rolling, rapid-running, etc.
ΚΠ
1611 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 531 From driest Rocks draw rapid-rowling Torrents.
1733 G. Nisbet Caledon's Tears i. i. 8 Through Rocks and rapid running streams.
1749 G. West tr. Pindar Odes (1753) I. 6 If..the rapid-footed Steed Could with joy thy Bosom move.
1789 J. Free Tyrocinium Geographicum Londinense iv. 15 Above the rapid flowing Hellespont.
1817 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 182 It was very pleasant to come out of the woods to such a place, one of the many contrasts which are presented by our rapid growing country.
1820 G. Hake Mem. 80 Years lxiii. 262 A young Bavarian officer of the rapid-mannered kind.
1849 Times 23 Nov. 5/4 A rapid running fire was still kept up along the margin of the bay.
1864 Times 23 Apr. 7/1 Prussians..with only their rolled greatcoats slung across their bodies, and their trusty, rapid-firing rifle in their hands.
1866 Galaxy 1 May 18 He hated driving the pony, which was a rapid-footed little beast.
1872 J. W. Goodspeed Life Col. James Fisk 164 This is the most Rapid Selling Book in America.
1878 J. T. Reid Art Rambles in Highlands & Islands vi. 89 The rapid-flowing waters of Niagara.
1892 Davenport (Iowa) Tribune 29 Apr. Fruit-growers are compelled to thin out the jack rabbits occasionally, or the large, rapid breeding creatures would eat up everything they could plant.
1907 Westm. Gaz. 22 Mar. 2/3 These creatures..are chickens fed so generously that they are marketable..three weeks before the most rapid-growing Aylesbury duckling is saleable.
1915 Fourth Rep. Factory Investigating Comm. (N.Y. State) ii. i. 119 It may be long enough in the case of rapid-selling goods to allow disposal of most of the stock before payment on the same is necessary.
1922 T. S. Eliot in Dial (Chicago) Dec. 662 The encouragement of the cheap and rapid-breeding cinema.
1925 Times 11 Feb. 14/6 (advt.) In one day Rapid-Hardening ‘Ferrocrete’, mixed with three parts of sand, develops the strength required by the British Standard Specification at 28 days.
1930 A. H. Morgan Field Bk. Ponds & Streams viii. 122 A single species often lives in springs or ponds which are different in other ways, shallow or (deep), rapid flowing or slow, so long as their waters are uniformly cold.
1932 World Today Feb. 213/2 By ten o'clock the narrow strip of timber some three miles long and an eighth of a mile wide was well aflame and had arrived at the rapid-travelling stage.
1933 B. Moore tr. Ovid Metamorphoses iv. 143 The only Naiäd in the world unknown To rapid-running Dian.
1957 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 5 Nov. 1/5 Soviet writers..talked of sending aloft apes and such rapid-breeding creatures as rodents, molluscs and insects.
1962 E. Godfrey Retail Selling & Organization ii. 20 Generally speaking, rapid-selling stock is placed on open fixtures.
1969 Jane's Freight Containers 1968–9 238/3 An interior rapid-closing floor valve NW 32.
1997 Village Voice (N.Y.) (Nexis) 4 Nov. 95 A spirited, rapid-footed solo.
2004 San Antonio (Texas) Express-News (Nexis) 17 Sept. 3 d Feral hogs are rapid-breeding survivors that can travel miles a day through heavy cover.
2006 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 23 Dec. b1 Soon, by the edge of knee-deep, rapid-running water, we have to abandon the buggy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.n.1605