- Haste
- Haste Haste (h[=a]st), n. [OE. hast; akin to D. haast, G.,
Dan., Sw., & OFries. hast, cf. OF. haste, F. h[^a]te (of
German origin); all perh. fr. the root of E. hate in a
earlier sense of, to pursue. See {Hate}.]
1. Celerity of motion; speed; swiftness; dispatch;
expedition; -- applied only to voluntary beings, as men
and other animals.
[1913 Webster]
The king's business required haste. --1 Sam. xxi. 8. [1913 Webster]
2. The state of being urged or pressed by business; hurry; urgency; sudden excitement of feeling or passion; precipitance; vehemence. [1913 Webster]
I said in my haste, All men are liars. --Ps. cxvi. 11. [1913 Webster]
{To make haste}, to hasten.
Syn: Speed; quickness; nimbleness; swiftness; expedition; dispatch; hurry; precipitance; vehemence; precipitation.
Usage: {Haste}, {Hurry}, {Speed}, {Dispatch}. Haste denotes quickness of action and a strong desire for getting on; hurry includes a confusion and want of collected thought not implied in haste; speed denotes the actual progress which is made; dispatch, the promptitude and rapidity with which things are done. A man may properly be in haste, but never in a hurry. Speed usually secures dispatch. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.