haste Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun overly eager speed (and possible carelessness)
    precipitation; hastiness; hurry; hurriedness.
    • he soon regretted his haste
  2. noun the act of moving hurriedly and in a careless manner
    rush; hurry; rushing.
    • in his haste to leave he forgot his book
  3. noun a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
    hurry.
    • in a hurry to lock the door

WordNet

Haste noun
Etymology
OE. hast; akin to D. haast, G., Dan., Sw., & OFries. hast, cf. OF. haste, F. hâte (of German origin); all perh. fr. the root of E. hate in a earlier sense of, to pursue. See Hate.
Definitions
  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.
    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.
Haste transitive verb & intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. hasten; akin to G. hasten, D. haasten, Dan. haste, Sw. hasta, OF. haster, F. hâter. See Haste, n.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Hasted; present participle & verbal noun Hasting
Definitions
  1. To hasten; to hurry. Archaic
    I 'll haste the writer. Shak.
    They were troubled and hasted away. Ps. xlviii. 5.

Webster 1913