Emily Dickinson Lexicon

questioning, n. [see question, n.] (webplay: learn).

Inquiry; investigation; probing; interrogation; [fig.] challenge; test; trial; affliction; hardship; difficulty.

quibble (-d), v. [possibly diminutive of quib < L. quī, who, which; associated with quirks of the law due to frequent use in legal documents.] (webplay: answer, move).

Argue; contend; squabble; quarrel in a petty way; counter with trivial objections.

quick (-er, -est), adj. [OE.] (webplay: dead, eye, grace, hasty, heart, lightning, living, new, run, soon, souls, spirit).

1. Invigorating; intoxicating; effervescent; stimulating; life-giving.
2. Alive; living; vigorous; active; animated; vivid; fresh; intoxicated; invigorated; fully absorbed; totally immersed.
3. [Adj.] living; when alive (“this sweet mouth when it was alive addressed its last words”; [pred. adj.] prompt (“we were prompt to miss you”); [adv.] immediately (“we instantly missed you”; or “this mouth quickly spoke its departing accents”).
4. Perceptive; alert; acute; discerning; keen; sharp.
5. Sudden; unexpected; [fig.] electric; stunning; dazzling; glaring.
6. Fast; swift; rapid; speedy; hasty; brisk.

quick (-est, -ly), adv. [see quick, adj.] (webplay: eye, dead, heart, living, music, run, sharpen, short, spirit).

1. Swiftly; rapidly; promptly; hastily; hurriedly; immediately; soon.
2. Early.
3. Easily; effortlessly; with little difficulty.

quick, n. [see quick, adj.] (webplay: alive, child, dead, eye, flesh, motions, parts, sharpen, short, spirit, stimulate).

1. Most sensitive part; most easily aggravated portion; most sore or painful region; [fig.] worst.
2. Essence; substance; crux; most vital aspect; most important feature.
3. Life; living thing.
4. Birth; beginning; dawn; rise.

quicken (-ed, -ing), v. [see quick, adj.] (webplay: cattle, heart, lightning, living, swift, time, trees).

1. Enliven; imbue with life; intoxicate; invigorate; make animated.
2. Grow; mature; develop.
3. Hurry; speed up; begin to move more rapidly.

quickened, verbal adj. [see quick, adj.] (webplay: living, man, souls).

1. Liquified; running; flowing; molten; [fig.] glowing; burning.
2. Given perception; possessing necessary insight; endowed with vision; [fig.] able; capable.

quiet (-er), adj. [OFr quiete or L. quiētus < quiēscěre, come to rest.] (webplay: child, clamors, contented, coolness, death, God, lie, life, patiently, possession, sit, spirit, state, town).

1. Motionless; still; unmoving; [fig.] lifeless; deceased; dead.
2. Soundless; silent; noiseless; mute; speechless.
3. Calm; serene; peaceful; tranquil; placid; undisturbed; unruffled; [fig.] dignified; unpretentious.
4. Ordinary; usual; small; insignificant; unimportant; innocuous; harmless; benign.

quiet (-ly), adv. [see quiet, adj.] (webplay: claims, offense, wind, years).

1. Innocently; modestly; guilelessly; artlessly.
2. Unpretentiously; unnoticed; unobtrusively; surreptitiously; furtively; secretly; stealthily; without drawing attention to itself.
3. Soundlessly; silently; softly; imperceptibly.
4. Carefully; reverently; respectfully.

quiet, n. [see quiet, adj.] (webplay: city, life, still, town).

1. Silence; period of soundlessness; absence of noise.
2. Peacefulness; calm; serenity; tranquility.