speed-up
noun
an increasing of speed.
speed-up
American
[speed-uhp]
/ ˈspidˌʌp /
noun
-
an increasing of speed.
-
an imposed increase in the rate of production of a worker without a corresponding increase in the rate of pay.
speed up
British
verb
noun
speed up
Idioms
Usage
The past tense and past participle of speed up is speeded up , not sped up
Etymology
Origin of speed-up
First recorded in 1920–25; noun use of verb phrase speed up
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:
Hybrid computing often leads to a speed-up in a particular task, as was the case here.
From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 2026
"The speed-up couldn't come sooner for patients who need help now."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 21, 2026
Derek Lessard of TD Cowen says in a report that this acquisition should help speed-up M&A and deliver more meaningful synergies over time, especially once the new business is integrated into the broader company’s operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
Further information released by the Ministry of Justice said it would also speed-up fire safety works in other parts of the prison estate to create useable space.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2024
When the field was just a radiation speed-up, I used forty milliamperes of current to the square centimetre of field-plate.
From Operation: Outer Space by Murray Leinster
The new CS-4 aims to help speed up these workflows by increasing the amount of tokens generated per megawatt tenfold relative to its CS-3 predecessor.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
But it also prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic state lawmakers this summer to allocate $40 million to help counties speed up the process.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The jet maker poured $450 million into the venture in 2022 to speed up its efforts to develop a fully automated air taxi devoted to short trips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The findings suggest that nanocatalysts should not simply be viewed as additives that speed up chemical reactions.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Dad went from factory to factory, installing his time-saving systems, reducing worker fatigue, so as to speed up production.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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.
