decelerate

[ dee-sel-uh-reyt ]
See synonyms for decelerate on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),de·cel·er·at·ed, de·cel·er·at·ing.
  1. to decrease the velocity of: He decelerates the bobsled when he nears a curve.

  2. to slow the rate of increase of: efforts to decelerate inflation.

verb (used without object),de·cel·er·at·ed, de·cel·er·at·ing.
  1. to slow down: The plane decelerated just before landing.

Origin of decelerate

1
First recorded in 1895–1900; de- + (ac)celerate
  • Also de·ac·cel·er·ate [dee-ak-sel-uh-reyt] /ˌdi ækˈsɛl əˌreɪt/ .

Other words from decelerate

  • de·cel·er·a·tion [dee-sel-uh-rey-shuhn], /diˌsɛl əˈreɪ ʃən/, noun
  • de·cel·er·a·tor, noun

Words Nearby decelerate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use decelerate in a sentence

  • But by the early 1980s, Gallant's fast-paced life began to decelerate.

    The Man Who Created Disco Beauty | Isabel Wilkinson | March 31, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Arcot accelerated toward the planet for two hours, then began to decelerate.

    Islands of Space | John W Campbell
  • If anything of the right size shows up, decelerate until we can get mass and albedo measurements.

    Rip Foster in Ride the Gray Planet | Harold Leland Goodwin
  • Every so often comes the impression we are falling head-first; the colonel using ship's drive to decelerate the whole system.

    The Lost Kafoozalum | Pauline Ashwell
  • Its motor is designed to decelerate that mass by 1,075 mph in order to allow it to assume a descending orbit.

    Far from Home | J.A. Taylor
  • They went in fast, using her gravity to help them curve into a forced orbit as they strained to decelerate.

    Tulan | Carroll Mather Capps

British Dictionary definitions for decelerate

decelerate

/ (diːˈsɛləˌreɪt) /


verb
  1. to slow down or cause to slow down

Origin of decelerate

1
C19: from de- + accelerate

Derived forms of decelerate

  • deceleration, noun
  • decelerator, noun

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