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[syn: rapid, speedy]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Rapid \Rap"id\ (r[a^]p"[i^]d), a. [L. rapidus, fr. rapere to
   seize and carry off, to snatch or hurry away; perhaps akin to
   Gr. 'arpa`zein: cf. F. rapide. Cf. Harpy, Ravish.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. Very swift or quick; moving with celerity; fast; as, a
      rapid stream; a rapid flight; a rapid motion.
      [1913 Webster]
            Ascend my chariot; guide the rapid wheels. --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]
   2. Advancing with haste or speed; speedy in progression; in
      quick sequence; as, rapid growth; rapid improvement; rapid
      recurrence; rapid succession.
      [1913 Webster]
   3. Quick in execution; as, a rapid penman.
      [1913 Webster] Rapid
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Rapid \Rap"id\, Rapids \Rap"ids\(r[a^]p"[i^]dz), n. [Cf. F.
   rapide. See Rapid, a.]
   The part of a river where the current moves with great
   swiftness, but without actual waterfall or cascade; sometimes
   called whitewater; -- usually used in the plural; as, the
   Lachine rapids in the St. Lawrence. For boaters on the river,
   it is a place that can be hazardous, with danger of capsizing
   or crashing into large rocks.
   [1913 Webster +PJC]
         Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast,
         The rapids are near, and the daylight's past. --Moore.
   [1913 Webster] Rapid-fire
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
rapid
    adj 1: done or occurring in a brief period of time; "a rapid
           rise through the ranks"
    2: characterized by speed; moving with or capable of moving with
       high speed; "a rapid movement"; "a speedy car"; "a speedy
       errand boy" [syn: rapid, speedy]
    n 1: a part of a river where the current is very fast
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
85 Moby Thesaurus words for "rapid":
   abrupt, agile, alacritous, bluff, bold, breakneck, brisk,
   ceaseless, chattering, chute, constant, continual, dashing,
   double-quick, eagle-winged, expeditious, express, fast, fleet,
   flying, galloping, hair-trigger, hasty, headlong, high-speed,
   hurried, hustling, immediate, impetuous, incessant, instant,
   instantaneous, light of heel, light-footed, lively, machine gun,
   mercurial, nimble, nimble-footed, oscillating, perennial,
   perpetual, plunging, precipitate, precipitous, prompt, pulsating,
   quick, quick as lightning, quick as thought, rapids, reckless,
   regular, repeated, riff, riffle, ripple, running, sault, sharp,
   sheer, shoot, snappy, spanking, speedy, staccato, steady, steep,
   stuttering, sudden, sustained, swift, unbroken, unceasing,
   unchanging, unintermitted, unintermittent, unintermitting,
   uninterrupted, unremitting, unstopped, unvarying, vertical,
   vibrating, winged
V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (February 2016):
RAPID
       Resource And Performance Interactive Display system