(swift) adjective
1. Traversing space or performing movements in a brief time; rapid; quick.
2. Capable of quick motion; fleet; speedy.
3. Passing rapidly, as time or events; also, coming without warning; unexpected.
4. Acting with readiness; prompt.
—adverb Quickly: a poetic use. [OE]
—swift′ly adverb
—swift′ness noun Synonyms (adj.): expeditious, fast, fleet, flying, hasty, quick, rapid, speedy, sudden. See IMPETUOUS, NIMBLE. Antonyms: deliberate, dilatory, dull, lingering, slow, sluggish, tardy.
CHIMNEY SWIFT
(About 9 ½ inches long)

(swift) noun
1. A bird of swallowlike form (family Micropodidae), possessing extraordinary powers of flight, including the builders of edible birds' nests (genus Collocalia) and the common American swift (Chaetura pelagica).
2. One of various small lizards (genera Sceloporus and Uta) common in the western United States.
3. A reel having an adjustable diameter for winding yarn, etc.
4. The main cylinder of a carding machine; also, a similar part in other machines. [<SWIFT¹]

(swift), Jonathan,
1667–1745, English satirist born in Dublin: called “Dean Swift.”