Haste (?), n. [OE. hast; akin to D. haast, G., Dan., Sw., & OFries. hast, cf. OF. haste, F. hate (of German origin); all perh. fr. the root of E. hate in a earlier sense of, to pursue. See [Hate].]

1.

Celerity of motion; speed; swiftness; dispatch; expedition; -- applied only to voluntary beings, as men and other animals.

The king's business required haste. 1 Sam. xxi. 8.

2.

The state of being urged or pressed by business; hurry; urgency; sudden excitement of feeling or passion; precipitance; vehemence.

I said in my haste, All men are liars. Ps. cxvi. 11.

[To make haste], to hasten.

Syn. -- Speed; quickness; nimbleness; swiftness; expedition; dispatch; hurry; precipitance; vehemence; precipitation. -- [Haste], [Hurry], [Speed], [Dispatch]. Haste denotes quickness of action and a strong desire for getting on; hurry includes a confusion and want of collected thought not implied in haste; speed denotes the actual progress which is made; dispatch, the promptitude and rapidity with which things are done. A man may properly be in haste, but never in a hurry. Speed usually secures dispatch.

© [Webster 1913].

Haste, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. [Hasted]; p. pr. & vb. n. [Hasting].] [OE. hasten; akin to G. hasten, D. haasten, Dan. haste, Sw. hasta, OF. haster, F. hater. See [Haste], n.]

To hasten; to hurry.

[Archaic]

I 'll haste the writer. Shak.

They were troubled and hasted away. Ps. xlviii. 5.

© [Webster 1913].

haste (definition)