▪ I. † ˈquickly, a. Obs. rare—1.
In 5 qwhikly.
[f. quick a. + -ly1. Cf. ON. kvikligr.]
Lively.
| 1435 Misyn Fire of Love 96 If þou lufe in þis maner..to þat qwhikly syght þou salt be nere full glorius. |
▪ II. quickly, adv.
(ˈkwɪklɪ)
Forms: see quick a. (Also compar. 3 cwicluker, 5 qwyklyar, qwhykliar; superl. qwhikestly, 6 quyklyst.)
[f. quick a. + -ly2. Cf. ON. kvikliga.]
† 1. In a living or lively manner; with animation or vigour; also, with strong feeling, sensitively. Obs.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) cxviii. 37 Me on soðne weᵹ þinne..læde cwiculice. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 6722 Be ȝe doughty, & lereþ of armes, & quykly defende ȝow fro harmes. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 251 Men shulden..do quycly wiþ þer lippis bi resoun of Goddis cause. 1435 Misyn Fire of Love 77, I suld more Ioy or ellis qwyklyar synge. c 1440 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) ii. xxviii, Suche a man..is soo quyckely and soo felyngly inspired. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. ix. 47 It is quikli and smertli spoken. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. ix. 153 Al his speiking euer taisted of heavinlines..to..steir thame up quiklier, quha war in the gud way. 1738 Warburton Div. Legat. ii. iv. (R.), It was proper to represent a perfect lawgiver as quickly touched with all the affections of humanity. 1800 in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. IV. 340 Ministers of state have a right to feel rather quickly upon the subject of character. |
† b. With quickness of perception. Obs.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7782 By alle þe costes quykly to wake Þat no Saxoyn on ȝow aryue. 1486 Bk. St. Albans C viij b, Of sharpenesse of hir corage and of hir lokyng quicly. 1587 Golding De Mornay xiv. 217 There are beasts which do heere, see, smel, taste, and feele much better and quicklier than man doth. |
† c. In a life-like manner; to the life. Obs.
| c 1477 Caxton Jason 84 An ymage of fyn golde so quickly made after the facon of appollo that it semed proprely his persone. c 1525 Skelton Garl. Laurel 592 A lybbard,..As quikly towchyd as it were flesshe and bones. a 1529 ― P. Sparowe 1121 Handes soft as sylke..That are so quyckely vayned. a 1605 Bankis Helicon 41 in Montgomerie Poems (1887) 274 Not abill, in tabill, With colours competent, So quiklie or liklie A form to represent. |
2. Rapidly, with haste or speed. a. Describing the rate of progress in a motion, action, or process, without consideration of the time at which it begins and ends.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7455 His folc quicliche to þe bataile sscet. a 1400–50 Alexander 1414 Sum braidis to þar bowis..Quethirs out quarels quikly betwene. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 119 We may fele our pulses bete quikly and continually. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V 50 He..folowed so quickely that the Frenchmen turnyng to flyght, ranne [etc.]. 1829 Landor Imag. Conv., Marvel & Bp. Parker Wks. 1853 II. 111/1 We..throw them down in the dirt to make them follow us the quicklier. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. i. 226 The wings of the small insect vibrate more quickly than those of the larger one. |
b. Denoting that the whole action or process is begun and ended within a comparatively short space of time.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 270 Ich chulle gon nu slepen & arisen nunon, & don cwicluker þen nu þet ich schulde don nu. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. vi. 122 So smyte hem of, quycly that hit be do. 1435 Misyn Fire of Love 81 Now qwhykliar, now slawlyer, it warmes. 1544 T. Phaer Regim. Lyfe (1553) E iij, A little good wine..is the chiefe thing that quickliest restoreth him. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 95 Breid wil thay make quiklier..[in this way] nor vthirwyse. 1629 Earle Microcosm., High-spirited Man (Arb.) 92 A man quickly fired, and quickly laid downe with satisfaction. 1677 Johnson in Ray's Corr. (1848) 128 Possibly their stomach may digest very quickly. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physic. (1762) 117 This quickly heals even cut Veins and Sinews. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 607 On this account decoctions should be quickly made. 1861 F. Nightingale Nursing 41 Leave the sick room quickly and come into it quickly, not suddenly, nor with a rush. |
c. Denoting that there is little or no interval between a given point in time and the doing of an act or happening of an event (freq. also implying a or b); without delay; very soon, shortly.
| c 1205 Lay. 4697 He..bad hine quicliche aȝeuen him his quene. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 7809 (Kölbing) Soriandes..oȝain ferd For to taken quiclike þe children. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 76 Quikliche cam a cacchepol, and craked a-two here legges. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxvi. 94 Aryse vp quykly without taryenge. 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1545) 25 He gyueth twyse, y{supt} gyueth quyckelye. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. i. 132 They are alreadie, or quickly will be landed. 1605 ― Macb. iv. iii. 200 If it be mine Keepe it not from me, quickly let me haue it. 1666 Bunyan Grace Abound. §29 But quickly after this, I fell in company with one poor man. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Mallet Wks. 1787 IV. 282 The series of great men, quickly to be exhibited. 1847 Mrs. A. Kerr Hist. Servia 308 Retaliation and vengeance quickly followed. 1888 Pall Mall G. 12 Dec. 12/1 Quickly afterwards a Conservative member..carried it off. |
3. Used with ppl. adjs., as quickly-aging, quickly gone, quickly-growing, quickly-speaking, quickly working.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal Table Eng. Names, Quickly gone flower, that is Uenice Mallow. 1866 Odling Anim. Chem. 50 A quickly-growing leafy plant. 1870 W. D. Christie in Dryden's Wks. (Globe) p. xv, An active and quickly working brain. 1874 L. Carr Jud. Gwynne I. i. 44 The quickly-speaking eyes of the dashing warrior. |