hasten

verb

has·ten | \ ˈhā-sᵊn

hastened; hastening\ ˈhās-niŋ

, ˈhā-sᵊn-iŋ \

Definition of hasten

intransitive verb

: to move or act quickly She hastened up the stairs.

transitive verb

1 : to encourage to move or act quickly : to urge on hastened her to the door— A. J. Cronin

2 : to cause to happen more quickly : accelerate His death was hastened by alcoholism. hasten the coming of a new order— D. W. Brogan

Other Words from hasten Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about hasten

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Examples of hasten in a Sentence

His death was hastened by alcohol abuse. hasten the activation of yeast with heat

Recent Examples on the Web

Local investor sentiment appears to be brightening, with a growing sense that battered stocks look cheap and that China’s trade brawl with the U.S. could hasten reforms. — Shen Hong, WSJ, "Trade and Yuan Cloud Outlook for Chinese Markets," 30 Dec. 2018 Five have died in this past year from causes ranging from heart failure to cancer, but advocates insist that the very flights that keep the patients alive have hastened their deaths. — Danica Coto, The Seattle Times, "A year after Maria, Puerto Rican kidney patients fear death," 18 Sep. 2018 In November, Farhad Manjoo argued in his New York Times column that the internet had already been dying a slow death and that the repeal of net neutrality rules would only hasten its demise. — Keith Collins, BostonGlobe.com, "The repeal of net neutrality is official. Here’s how that could affect you," 11 June 2018 Bannon hastened his own demise by criticizing administration rivals in a magazine interview in August. — The Washington Post, OregonLive.com, "Steve Bannon leaves Breitbart after blow-up over comments in Trump book," 9 Jan. 2018 The shift to online shopping hastened their decline. — Suzanne Kapner, WSJ, "J.C. Penney Struggles to Avoid Same Fate as Sears," 21 Jan. 2019 Shifting those investments away from coal and towards clean energy projects could help hasten Indonesia’s move towards clean energy alternatives. — Nithin Coca, Vox, "The most important country for the global climate no one is talking about," 6 Dec. 2018 This in-between phase is kind of complex and needs a solution—this kind of technology will maybe hasten the transition. — Erin Biba, Popular Mechanics, "Robot, You Can Drive My Car," 8 Aug. 2018 China’s wild binge of solar manufacturing drove down the costs of panels, both by oversupplying the market and by hastening economies of scale. — David Roberts, Vox, "China made solar panels cheap. Now it’s doing the same for electric buses.," 24 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hasten.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.