hasten
verb/ˈheɪsn/
/ˈheɪsn/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they hasten | /ˈheɪsn/ /ˈheɪsn/ |
| he / she / it hastens | /ˈheɪsnz/ /ˈheɪsnz/ |
| past simple hastened | /ˈheɪsnd/ /ˈheɪsnd/ |
| past participle hastened | /ˈheɪsnd/ /ˈheɪsnd/ |
| -ing form hastening | /ˈheɪsnɪŋ/ /ˈheɪsnɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] hasten to do something to say or do something without delay
- She saw his frown and hastened to explain.
- He has been described as a ‘charmless bore’—not by me, I hasten to add.
- I hasten to add that I knew nothing of the fraud at the time.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural-sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app. Try it for free as part of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- [transitive] hasten something (formal) to make something happen sooner or more quickly
- The treatment she received may, in fact, have hastened her death.
- News of the scandal certainly hastened his departure from office.
- [intransitive] + adv./prep. (literary) to go or move somewhere quickly synonym hurry
- We hastened back to Rome.
Word Originmid 16th cent.: extended form of haste, on the pattern of verbs in -en.
Check pronunciation:
hasten