hurry

[hur-ee, huhr-ee] /ˈhɜr i, ˈhʌr i/
verb (used without object), hurried, hurrying.
1.
to move, proceed, or act with haste (often followed by up):
Hurry, or we'll be late. Hurry up, it's starting to rain.
verb (used with object), hurried, hurrying.
2.
to drive, carry, or cause to move or perform with speed.
3.
to hasten; urge forward (often followed by up).
4.
to impel or perform with undue haste:
to hurry someone into a decision.
noun, plural hurries.
5.
a state of urgency or eagerness:
to be in a hurry to meet a train.
6.
hurried movement or action; haste.
Origin
1580-90; expressive word of uncertain origin, compare Middle English horyed (attested once) rushed, impelled, Middle High German hurren to move quickly
Related forms
hurryingly, adverb
overhurry, verb, overhurried, overhurrying.
unhurrying, adjective
unhurryingly, adverb
Synonyms
1. See rush1 . 2. hasten. 3. accelerate, quicken; expedite, hustle. 6. celerity; expedition, dispatch; speed, quickness; bustle, ado.
Antonyms
3. delay, slow. 6. deliberation.
Examples from the web for hurry
  • Persons are commonly in such a hurry to make this motion that they neglect to address the chair and thus obtain the floor.
  • They're in a hurry, but they have to slow down for children and speed bumps.
  • The authorities seem to be in no hurry to move again, leaving speculators little imminent prospect of making money.
  • He never seemed to hurry, or move any more than was necessary.
  • We see a lot of hurry up and wait from our projects.
  • Not all universities are looking to hurry retirement of their faculty members.
  • But both sides may be in a hurry to get the agreement signed so the college can make a public announcement.
  • It's consistent with other research indicating that human beings have a bias toward moving right when they need to act in a hurry.
  • Yeah, they better hurry up before the students leave school and start changing the laws to something fair.
  • Conferences become no fun in a hurry when you overbook yourself.
British Dictionary definitions for hurry

hurry

/ˈhʌrɪ/
verb -ries, -rying, -ried
1.
(intransitive) often foll by up. to hasten (to do something); rush
2.
(transitive) often foll by along. to speed up the completion, progress, etc, of
noun
3.
haste
4.
urgency or eagerness
5.
(informal) in a hurry
  1. easily: you won't beat him in a hurry
  2. willingly: we won't go there again in a hurry
Derived Forms
hurrying, noun, adjective
hurryingly, adverb
Word Origin
C16 horyen, probably of imitative origin; compare Middle High German hurren; see scurry
Word Origin and History for hurry
v.

1590, first recorded in Shakespeare, who used it often; perhaps a variant of harry (v.), or perhaps a West Midlands sense of Middle English hurren "to vibrate rapidly, buzz," from Proto-Germanic *hurza "to move with haste" (cf. Middle High German hurren "to whir, move fast," Old Swedish hurra "to whirl round"), which also perhaps is the root of hurl. Related: hurried; hurrying.

n.

c.1600, probably from hurry (v.).

Slang definitions & phrases for hurry

hurry

Related Terms

here's your hat what's your hurry