fast track

¹

noun

1. a racetrack dry and hard enough for optimum speed.

2. a railroad track for express trains.

3. Informal.,  a situation or course of action that is intensely pressured or competitive, especially one in which a person advances rapidly to a higher level in a business or profession.

   With two promotions in six months, he seems to have chosen the fast track.

fast-track

²

[fast-trak, fahst-]

verb (used with or without object)

1. to advance or develop rapidly.

adjective

1. of or relating to the fast track.

fast-track

adjective

1. denoting the quickest or most direct route or system

   fast-track executives

   a fast-track procedure for libel claims

verb

1. (tr) to speed up the progress of (a project or person)

Other Word Forms

• fast-tracker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fast track¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. on a / the fast track,

   1. advancing or being promoted more rapidly than usual, especially in business or other organizational positions.

      an executive on the fast track.

   2. expanding or being developed or handled rapidly and often innovatively.

      a company on the fast track in computer technology.

A situation involving high pressure, competition, and, especially, rapid success or advancement. For example, He was definitely on a fast track, becoming a partner after only five years in the firm, or This company was on the fast track in software development. This term alludes to a dry, hard horse track that enables horses to run at high speeds. [Colloquial; mid-1960s] Also see fast lane.

Example Sentences

But past attempts at asylum "fast track" decision-making have been torn apart in the courts because they were rushed and found to be grossly unfair.

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A state program now fast tracks their teaching applications.

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Mr Johnson contacted the control room to get the train diverted from the fast track to the slow track when the alarm was raised.

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When the alarm was raised Mr Johnson was said to have contacted the control room to get the train diverted from the fast track to the slow track, which has a platform at Huntingdon.

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“Once you fall behind on a car loan, unlike a lot of other forms of credit, you are on a fast track to a repossession.”

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Related Words

• accelerate 
• assist 
• facilitate 
• hasten 
• promote 
• quicken 
• speed 
• urge