accelerate
[ ak-sel-uh-reyt ]
/ ækˈsɛl əˌreɪt /
verb (used with object), ac·cel·er·at·ed, ac·cel·er·at·ing.
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), ac·cel·er·at·ed, ac·cel·er·at·ing.
to move or go faster; increase in speed.
to progress or develop faster.
RELATED CONTENT
Sever And Other Trending Words On Dictionary.com1. What caused the biggest jump in searches on dictionary.com this week? The word rehabilitation had a whole lot of people scratching their heads. The term took a 607% leap in searches over the prior week. The spike followed news out of Connecticut that a former University of Hartford student named Brianna Brochu had been sentenced by a judge to “accelerated rehabilitation.” In Brochu’s case, rehabilitation …
RELATED WORDS
advance, further, hasten, spur, stimulate, expedite, quicken, tool, drive, gun, impel, forward, dust, precipitate, railroad, hurry, roll, rev
Nearby words
- accd,
- accede,
- accel.,
- accelerando,
- accelerant,
- accelerated reader,
- accelerating universe,
- acceleration,
- acceleration clause,
- acceleration coefficient
Origin of accelerate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for accelerate
accelerate
/ (ækˈsɛləˌreɪt) /
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
Word Origin for accelerate
C16: from Latin accelerātus, from accelerāre to go faster, from ad- (intensive) + celerāre to hasten, from celer swift
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
accelerate
1520s, from Latin acceleratus, past participle of accelerare "to hasten, to quicken," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + celerare "hasten," from celer "swift" (see celerity). Related: Accelerated; accelerating.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper