Quickening
['kwɪkənɪŋ]
Definition
(noun.) the process of showing signs of life; 'the quickening of seed that will become ripe grain'.
(noun.) the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus.
Editor: Ned--From WordNet
Definition
(p. pr. & vb. n.) of Quicken
(n.) The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
(n.) 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.
Checked by Cecily
Examples
- The atmosphere was grey and translucent, the birds sang sharply on the young twigs, the earth would be quickening and hastening in growth. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- At first, it was a sort of stupefaction; but every moment was quickening her perception of the horrible evil. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- Quickening his step, he marched some yards in advance of his company. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I am a patient sort of man, but my pulse is quickening. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Quickening their pace, they turned up a road upon the left hand. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- I am sensible of no light kindling--no life quickening--no voice counselling or cheering. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I heard her breath quickening--I felt her hand growing cold. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Its genuine influence is on what Wells calls the hinterland, in a quickening of the sense of life. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The factory system challenged the quickening human conscience on that issue. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- We can hardly imagine bucolic placidity quickening to intellectual aims without imagining social aims as the transitional phase. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I heard nothing but the quickening crackle of the flames, and the sharp snap of the glass in the skylight above. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
Checked by Andrew