Jump To:

• pace
  pace

  noun

  a rate of movement, especially in stepping, walking, etc..
• PACE
  PACE

  acronym

  Police and Criminal Evidence Act

pace

¹ American  

[pays] / peɪs /

noun

• paces
  plural

1. 

   a rate of movement, especially in stepping, walking, etc..

   To raise your heart rate, walk at a brisk pace of five miles an hour.

2. a rate of activity, progress, growth, performance, etc.; tempo.

   The pace of the building's construction had slowed almost to a halt.

3. any of various standard linear measures, representing the space naturally measured by the movement of the feet in walking: roughly 30 to 40 inches (75 centimeters to 1 meter).

4. a single step.

   She took three paces in the direction of the door.

5. the distance covered in a step.

   Stand six paces inside the gates.

6. a manner of stepping; gait.

7. a gait of a horse or other animal in which the feet on the same side are lifted and put down together.

8. any of the gaits of a horse.

   Synonyms:

   single foot, run, walk, gallop, canter, jog, trot, rack, amble, step

9. a raised step or platform.

---

verb (used with object)

• paces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• paced,
  past participle,  past
• pacing
  present participle

1. to set the rate of movement for, as in racing.

2. to traverse or go over with steps.

   He paced the floor nervously.

3. to measure by steps or by any of various standard linear measures representing the space naturally measured by the movement of the feet in walking.

4. to train to a certain pace; exercise in pacing.

   to pace a horse.

5. (of a horse) to run (a distance) at a pace.

   Hanover II paced a mile.

verb (used without object)

• paces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• paced,
  past participle,  past
• pacing
  present participle

1. to take slow, regular steps.

   Antonyms:

   skip, scamper, scurry

2. to walk up and down nervously, as to expend nervous energy.

3. (of a horse) to go at a pace.

idioms

1. set the pace, to act as an example for others to equal or rival; be the most progressive or successful.

   an agency that sets the pace in advertising.

2. put through one's paces, to cause someone to demonstrate their ability or to show their skill.

   The French teacher put her students through their paces for the visitors.

pace ² American  

[pay-see, pah-chay, pah-ke] / ˈpeɪ si, ˈpɑ tʃeɪ, ˈpɑ kɛ /

preposition

1. with all due respect to; with the permission of.

   I do not, pace my rival, hold with the ideas of the reactionists.

---

pace ¹ British  

/ peɪs /

noun

1. 1. a single step in walking

   2. the distance covered by a step

2. a measure of length equal to the average length of a stride, approximately 3 feet See also Roman pace geometric pace military pace

3. speed of movement, esp of walking or running

4. rate or style of proceeding at some activity

   to live at a fast pace

5. manner or action of stepping, walking, etc; gait

6. any of the manners in which a horse or other quadruped walks or runs, the three principal paces being the walk, trot, and canter (or gallop)

7. a manner of moving, natural to the camel and sometimes developed in the horse, in which the two legs on the same side of the body are moved and put down at the same time

8. architect a step or small raised platform

9. to proceed at the same speed as

10. to test the ability of someone

11. to determine the rate at which a group runs or walks or proceeds at some other activity

12. to keep up with the speed or rate of others

---

verb

1. (tr) to set or determine the pace for, as in a race

2. to walk with regular slow or fast paces, as in boredom, agitation, etc

   to pace the room

3. to measure by paces

   to pace out the distance

4. (intr) to walk with slow regular strides

   to pace along the street

5. (intr) (of a horse) to move at the pace (the specially developed gait)

PACE ² British  

/ peɪs /

acronym

1. Police and Criminal Evidence Act

---

pace ³ British  

/ ˈpɑːkɛ, ˈpɑːtʃɛ /

preposition

1. with due deference to: used to acknowledge politely someone who disagrees with the speaker or writer

---

pace More Idioms  

1. see change of pace; keep pace; put someone through his or her paces; set the pace; snail's pace.

---

Synonym Usage

Pace, plod, trudge refer to a steady and monotonous kind of walking. Pace suggests steady, measured steps as of one completely lost in thought or impelled by some distraction: to pace up and down. Plod implies a slow, heavy, laborious, weary walk: The mailman plods his weary way. Trudge implies a spiritless but usually steady and doggedly persistent walk: The farmer trudged to his village to buy his supplies.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• paces
  plural

Participles

• pacing
  present
• paced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pace
  simple
• paces
  simple
• have paced
  perfect
• has paced
  perfect
• am pacing
  progressive
• are pacing
  progressive
• is pacing
  progressive
• have been pacing
  perfect progressive
• has been pacing
  perfect progressive

Past

• paced
  simple
• had paced
  perfect
• was pacing
  progressive
• were pacing
  progressive
• had been pacing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pace
  simple
• will have paced
  perfect
• will be pacing
  progressive
• will have been pacing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of pace¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English pas, from Old French, from Latin passus “step, pace,” equivalent to pad-, variant stem of pandere “to spread (the legs, in walking)” + -tus suffix of verbal action, with dt becoming ss

Origin of pace²

First recorded in 1860–65; from Latin pāce “in peace, by favor” (ablative singular of pāx “favor, pardon, grace, peace ”

Explanation

Pace is how fast something travels a particular distance, like a runner who tries to achieve a consistent pace, running each mile in more or less the same amount of time. Pace comes from the Latin word passus, meaning “a step.” Pace is a noun, meaning "the speed at which something happens." Some say city life has a faster pace because everyone hurries and there are so many exciting things to do. Pace is also a verb — if you pace yourself, you’ll have enough energy to experience all of that city's sights, from the rush of rush hour to the late-night party scene.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pace PACE paces paced pacing

They warn that such rapid melting is no longer a surprise given the pace of climate change, but it could threaten water supplies for farming, hydropower and transport in the decades ahead.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

The S&P 500 is on pace to post double-digit returns for the fourth year in a row.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Read: Businesses are growing at the fastest pace in over four years.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

The annual rate hit 3.3 percent in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, the fastest pace since December 2023, according to preliminary data from the statistics agency Destatis.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

At this pace Penelope knew she had only moments to ask the fortune-teller all the questions that had been wheeling through her mind.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

One company betting on that shift is InnovAge, which participates in PACE, a federal program designed to keep frail seniors in their communities rather than in institutions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026

This compares with 16% in 2018-19, according to state data analyzed by the nonpartisan research center PACE.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2025

Losing the PACE, the analytics center, would also be a mistake, said Michael Horowitz, head of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 20, 2023

The group called PACE, which stands for Practical Actions for Climate and the Environment, organises litter picks with reusable sacks and has planted 300 trees in a community orchard.

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2022

The scene of the IN PACE, for example, in spite of its strength, verges dangerously on the province of the penny novelist.

From Familiar Studies of Men and Books by Robert Louis Stevenson

Nvidia really stands out with sales and EPS expected to increase at annualized paces above 50% through 2028.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

The UK edition of Drag Race has been putting hopeful contestants through their paces for seven years - plenty of time for a new wave of talent raised on the hit reality show to emerge.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Palantir Technologies stock paces toward its worst day since February as Palo Alto Networks and other sector peers sell off.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

That these customers could resist the urge to step a few paces outside to see the real thing still amazes me 55 years later.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

John Laydon paces, his face a mask of worry.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite paced the day’s losses after hitting record highs in the previous two sessions, falling 308.24 points, or 1.13%, to 26936.04.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

She said it is a "hands on, fast paced" job.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

“The Pitt,” the chaotically paced medical drama that reinvigorated the genre, landed outstanding drama series for the second year in a row, along with a repeat win for lead actor Noah Wyle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Shirtless, he paced relentless circles on the blacktop.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

He paced and pranced, there on the other side of the creek.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

There’s been some discourse about the art of the slow burn and how the pacing has changed in an era of short episode orders and unpredictable renewals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

“I don’t hear any noises,” he said, pacing a raised floor above a chamber that circulates air to cool servers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Amodei also said pacing would not mean halting model training or technical progress.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

Torres-Pena was pacing the corridor believing he was about to leave, the inquest was told.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Shocked by the pain her “Mother-kins” had to endure, she spent “hours pacing back and forth,” trying and failing to ease her mother’s agony.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Related Words

• clip
• momentum
• progress
• rate
• time
• velocity