Definition of rapid

• a. - Very swift or quick; moving with celerity; fast; as, a rapid stream; a rapid flight; a rapid motion.
• a. - Advancing with haste or speed; speedy in progression; in quick sequence; as, rapid growth; rapid improvement; rapid recurrence; rapid succession.
• a. - Quick in execution; as, a rapid penman.
• a. - The part of a river where the current moves with great swiftness, but without actual waterfall or cascade; -- usually in the plural; as, the Lachine rapids in the St. Lawrence.