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

1. 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.

2. 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.