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  • speed-up
    speed-up
    noun
    an increasing of speed.
  • speed up
    speed up
    verb
    to increase or cause to increase in speed or rate; accelerate
Synonyms

speed-up

American  
[speed-uhp] / ˈspidˌʌp /

noun

  1. an increasing of speed.

  2. an imposed increase in the rate of production of a worker without a corresponding increase in the rate of pay.

speed up British  

verb

  1. to increase or cause to increase in speed or rate; accelerate

"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

noun

  1. an instance of this; acceleration

"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
speed up Idioms  

  1. Accelerate, expedite, increase the rate, as in The car speeded up as it went downhill, or It's difficult to speed up production without new equipment. [Late 1800s]

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.

Speed up the decades-long process of climate change and you get “The Day After Tomorrow,” the 2004 film that unleashed a risible quickie apocalypse onto the screen.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2023

Speed up the process by taking your sample ballot too — poll workers will scan your quick check-in code.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 29, 2022

Speed up the images, and watch the seasons fly.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 13, 2017

I wonder if supervisors look at timesheets and say, “Looks like a lot of bathroom time in there. Speed up that urine stream!”

From Slate • Mar. 11, 2014

Speed up, Hobby, and tell that man we’re holding all strangers, him most of all.

From Stepsons of Light by Rhodes, Eugene Manlove

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.