» Fast (verb) - A Dictionary of the English Language - Samuel Johnson

Fast (verb)

View Scan · View Transcription · from page 776

View Scan · View Transcription · from page 776

To Fast. v.n. [fastan, Gothick; ꝼæꞅꞇan, Saxon.]

To abstain from food.
Our love is not so great, Hortensio,
But we may blow our nails together,
And fast it fairly out. Shak. Taming of the Shrew.

I had rather fast from all four days than drink so much in one. Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra.

We have some meats, and breads, and drinks, which taken by men enable them to fast long after. Bacon's New Atlantis.
To mortify the body by religious abstinence.
When thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast. Mat. vi.

Last night the very god shew'd me a vision:
I fast, and pray'd for their intelligence. Shakes. Cymbeline.

Sources: Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (57) · Bacon, Francis (396) · Shakespeare's Cymbeline (73) · The Bible - Matthew (21) · Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew (71)

Attributes: Gothic (10) · Saxon (215) · Verb Neuter (131)

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Cite this page: Johnson, Samuel. "Fast (verb)." A Dictionary of the English Language: A Digital Edition of the 1755 Classic by Samuel Johnson. Edited by Brandi Besalke. Last modified: May 25, 2014. https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/fast-verb/.

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