fast

1. Durable; resistant to change; applied to stained microorganisms which cannot be decolorized. SEE ALSO: acid-f.. 2. Not eating. [A.S. foest, firm, fixed]

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ferment active solution therapy; Fitness, Arthritis and Seniors Trial; flowassisted, shortterm [balloon catheter]; fluorescent antibody staining technique; fluoro-allergosorbent test; focused abdominal sonography for trauma; Fourier acquired steady state; Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test; functional assessment stages

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fast 'fast adj

1) firmly fixed

2 a) having a rapid effect <a \fast medicine>

b) allowing for the rapid passage of a gas or liquid

3) resistant to change (as from destructive action) used chiefly of organisms and in combination with the agent resisted <acid-fast bacteria>

fast vi

1) to abstain from food

2) to eat sparingly or abstain from some foods vt to deny food to <the patient is \fasted and given a mild hypnotic (Lancet)>

fast n

1) the practice of fasting

2) a time of fasting

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(fast) [A.S. faest firm; faestan to abstain from food] 1. immovable, or unchangeable; resistant to the action of a specific agent, such as a stain or destaining agent (e.g., acid-fast). 2. abstention from food, or from food and liquid. to abstain from food, or from food and liquid.