accelerate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
accelerates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
accelerated,
past participle, past
-
accelerating
present participle
-
to cause faster or greater activity, development, progress, advancement, etc., in.
to accelerate economic growth.
-
to hasten the occurrence of.
to accelerate the fall of a government.
-
Mechanics. to change the velocity of (a body) or the rate of (motion); cause to undergo acceleration.
-
to reduce the time required for (a course of study) by intensifying the work, eliminating detail, etc.
verb (used without object)
-
accelerates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
accelerated,
past participle, past
-
accelerating
present participle
-
to move or go faster; increase in speed.
-
to progress or develop faster.
verb
-
to go, occur, or cause to go or occur more quickly; speed up
-
(tr) to cause to happen sooner than expected
-
(tr) to increase the velocity of (a body, reaction, etc); cause acceleration
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
overaccelerateverb
-
reaccelerateverb
-
accelerableadjective
-
accelerativeadjective
-
self-acceleratingadjective
-
unacceleratedadjective
-
acceleratedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
acceleratesimple
-
acceleratessimple
-
have acceleratedperfect
-
has acceleratedperfect
-
am acceleratingprogressive
-
are acceleratingprogressive
-
is acceleratingprogressive
-
have been acceleratingperfect progressive
-
has been acceleratingperfect progressive
Past
-
acceleratedsimple
-
had acceleratedperfect
-
was acceleratingprogressive
-
were acceleratingprogressive
-
had been acceleratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of accelerate
First recorded in 1515–25; from Latin accelerātus “sped up,” past participle of accelerāre “to speed up,” from ac- ac- + celerāre “to hasten, hurry” (from celer “swift”)
Explanation
Accelerate means to speed up. A car accelerates when you step on the gas. You can accelerate the process of getting a visa if you happen to know someone who works in the consulate. The fastest Amtrak trains are called the Acela line, a made-up word intended to suggest accelerate and therefore communicate that these trains are fast. If you are standing close to one when it zooms by, you may find yourself having an accelerated heart rate — they move pretty fast!
Vocabulary lists containing accelerate
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Holes
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Commonly Misspelled Words, List 2
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The proceeds will be used to accelerate share buybacks and cut debt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
The rule change “will create more air pollution, harm health and accelerate climate change,” American Lung Assn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
One possibility involves the body's mechanisms for regulating vitamin D. When concentrations of vitamin D metabolites rise, the body may accelerate the breakdown and removal of these compounds to keep levels under control.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
The superior facilities and greater professionalism associated with Mumbai's sporting culture helped accelerate her development.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
In the absence of this protein, blood refuses to clot—and even a small nick or wound can accelerate into a lethal bleeding crisis.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
A controlled human clinical trial will be needed to determine whether glucosamine directly accelerates Alzheimer's progression and, if so, which patients may be most vulnerable.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 27, 2026
A quarter-point rate hike from here would get the federal funds rate between 4% and 4.25%, what Kaplan says is in the neighborhood of the neutral rate that neither accelerates nor restricts the economy.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
The uplift accelerates and GPS stations move centimeters in days.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
At a recent call Swonk held with primarily industry economists, concerns were expressed that if energy inflation accelerates again, companies that have largely stood pat would likely soon need to start raising prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
For Saturn as for Jupiter, the magnetic field captures and accelerates the charged particles of the solar wind.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Feng pointed out that as the AI boom accelerated, his firm was able to actively hire new AI talent during performance dips for the industry, leading to “prolific model development” currently contributing to outperformance.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
In these experiments, heavy ions such as lead are accelerated to nearly the speed of light and smashed together.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
His learning accelerated after being released by Atletico Madrid as a teenager, as his body had not caught up with his footballing brain.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
While headline inflation accelerated above the NBP’s target in September, this was driven by an external energy shock with no clear signs of broader inflationary pressures, they said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The government’s engine of bureaucracy accelerated slowly, however, and although the Justice Department decided to make its move against him, it took time and approvals to decide when and where an arrest could be made.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
In Luria’s view, “OpenAI is actually accelerating as it catches up with Anthropic at the enterprise market,” he said in emailed comments Thursday.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
"As AI applications continue to deepen, international cloud service providers and various countries are accelerating investment in AI infrastructure, boosting demand across related supply chains such as semiconductors and servers," the statement said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
This is a reason, though not the only one, that growth is not just solid but may be accelerating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Meanwhile, HDD demand is accelerating, with favorable pricing for manufacturers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
He delivered the report to Roosevelt on November 27, with a covering letter stating that he was forming an engineering team and accelerating all other necessary research.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
