Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Fast \Fast\, a. [Compar. {Faster}; superl. {Fastest}.] [OE.,
   firm, strong, not loose, AS. f?st; akin to OS. fast, D. vast,
   OHG. fasti, festi, G. fest, Icel. fastr, Sw. & Dan. fast, and
   perh. to E. fetter. The sense swift comes from the idea of
   keeping close to what is pursued; a Scandinavian use. Cf.
   {Fast}, adv., {Fast}, v., {Avast}.]
   1. Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose,
      unstable, or easily moved; immovable; as, to make fast the
      door.

            There is an order that keeps things fast. --Burke.

   2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art;
      impregnable; strong.

            Outlaws . . . lurking in woods and fast places.
                                                  --Spenser.

   3. Firm in adherence; steadfast; not easily separated or
      alienated; faithful; as, a fast friend.

   4. Permanent; not liable to fade by exposure to air or by
      washing; durable; lasting; as, fast colors.

   5. Tenacious; retentive. [Obs.]

            Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their
            smells.                               --Bacon.

   6. Not easily disturbed or broken; deep; sound.

            All this while in a most fast sleep.  --Shak.

   7. Moving rapidly; quick in mition; rapid; swift; as, a fast
      horse.

   8. Given to pleasure seeking; disregardful of restraint;
      reckless; wild; dissipated; dissolute; as, a fast man; a
      fast liver. --Thackeray.

   {Fast and loose}, now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant,
      esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose, to play
      fast and loose, to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy
      or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another.
      ``Play fast and loose with faith.'' --Shak.

   {Fast and loose pulleys} (Mach.), two pulleys placed side by
      side on a revolving shaft, which is driven from another
      shaft by a band, and arranged to disengage and re["e]ngage
      the machinery driven thereby. When the machinery is to be
      stopped, the band is transferred from the pulley fixed to
      the shaft to the pulley which revolves freely upon it, and
      vice versa.

   {Hard and fast} (Naut.), so completely aground as to be
      immovable.

   {To make fast} (Naut.), to make secure; to fasten firmly, as
      a vessel, a rope, or a door.