fast
Definition: Adjective: (1) ~ film; ~ emulsion: one that is comparatively high in sensitivity: small quantities of light produce relatively large response in e.g. density of image. (2) ~ lens: one with a large maximum aperture for its class e.g. f/1.4 for 50mm lenses, f/4 for 500mm lenses. (3) ~ shutter speed: shutter setting giving a relatively short or brief duration of exposure time for a given class of equipment. (4) ~ developer: one which works at high dilution or requires short processing times. (5) ~ printer; ~ hard-disk: equipment which takes a relatively short time to complete a given task. (6) ~ processor: one with a high clock speed or rate of calculation e.g. 500MHz. (7) ~ colour: one that is resistant to fading.
Hare and the tortoise
Note that of two computers, one with a faster processor than the other, it does not follow that the faster computer is the one with the faster clock. Very confusing, to be sure. That is because a fast computer is fast in the sense of completing certain tasks quickly: a faster processor helps, but better use of resources e.g. faster data bus, faster hard-disk, larger cache, etc. are just as important.
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