From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishquicklyquick‧ly /ˈkwɪkli/ ●●● S1 W1 adverb 1 FAST/QUICKfast We need to get this finished as quickly as possible. Kids grow up so quickly these days.RegisterIn everyday English, people usually use a verb such as rush, run, or hurry rather than say go quickly: She went quickly to fetch the doctor. → She ran to fetch the doctor.2 SHORT TIMEafter only a very short time SYN soon I realized fairly quickly that this wasn’t going to be easy.3 SHORT TIMEfor a short time I’ll just quickly nip into that shop. ‘Have you talked to Vera about it yet?’ ‘Just quickly.’THESAURUSquickly at a high speed or without taking much timeThe stream was flowing quite quickly.They quickly became friends.fast at a high speed – used especially when talking about how something movesYou're driving too fast!He ran home as fast as he could.quick spoken quickly – used in exclamations or in comparativesQuick! There’s a mouse!swiftly written quicklyThe government acted swiftly.She was surprised that he agreed so swiftly.rapidly quickly – used especially about changes, increases, improvements etcThe population is growing rapidly.a rapidly changing worldspeedily quickly and therefore efficientlyAll problems were speedily dealt with.briskly quickly and energeticallyHe walked briskly back along the path.at high/great speed at a very fast speed – used especially in technical descriptionsThe molecules are travelling at great speed.at a rapid rate especially written quickly – used about changes, increases, improvements etcInternet shopping is growing at a rapid rate.as quick as a flash/in a flash extremely quicklyAs quick as a flash, I was back in my bed and under the covers.like lightning moving extremely quicklyLike lightning, the cat darted under the bushes.flat out especially British English at the fastest speed possibleThe car was going flat out.He was running flat out.
Examples from the Corpus
quickly• Don't eat too quickly.• She undressed quickly and got into bed.• We were asked only to make the bomb, devise it and construct it as quickly as possible.• Farquhar, unhurt apart from a huge lump on his head, bandaged Lachlan's wounds quickly before joining him at the oars.• Let me just talk to Eve quickly before we go.• Then she saw him look around quickly, but in all the wrong directions.• The water in the aquarium will quickly equal the ambient air temperature.• This is usually tucked away under a fold of skin but it can be quickly erected and used as a weapon.• Yeast cells struggling to survive under suffocating conditions quickly excrete the ethanol fragments because they are basically poisonous.• The California Department of Forestry said the crash sparked a small brush fire that was quickly extinguished.• Quickly fry the onions, then add the meat.• It reads quickly, like the Diaz story, a simple, straight forward pleasure.• Alex was knocked to the ground, but he quickly recovered.• Fortunately, India quickly returned to calm after Mrs Gandhi's death.• It's important to realize how quickly this disease can spread. 