Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Language: Latin
Origin: rapidus 'seizing, sweeping away', from rapere; RAPE1

rapid

 adjective
     
rap‧id W3
happening or done very quickly and in a very short time [↪ fast, quick]:
The patient made a rapid recovery.
a period of rapid decline
He fired three times in rapid succession (=one after another).
—rapidity noun [uncountable]
Their debts mounted with alarming rapidity.
WORD FOCUS: fast WORD FOCUS: fast
moving very quickly: at high speed, like lightning, at top speed, flat out
doing something quickly: quick, rapid, swift, prompt, speedy
happening quickly: rapid, speedy, meteoric, at an alarming rate, in no time

➔ See also fast
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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