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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

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.

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speed up British  

verb

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

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noun

1. an instance of this; acceleration

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]

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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

Nasdaq, where SpaceX will trade, announced earlier this spring that it would speed up the timeframe for including such mega listings in its main benchmark index.

From Barron's • May 17, 2026

Linville called it a “multi-year process,” even if regulations are removed to speed up the buildup of a domestic stockpile.

From Salon • May 15, 2026

Daily updates on his progress – including his work in oxygen tents to speed up his recovery – filled the newspapers.

From BBC • May 10, 2026

Researchers try to determine which of those tasks AI could significantly speed up.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 10, 2026

Katya and the other pilots on the ground watched breathlessly, willing Marina to keep her speed up and turn the controls toward the working engine, as they’d been taught.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

Related Words

• abate
• allay
• ameliorate
• calm
• expedite
• facilitate
• further
• improve
• lessen
• lift
• mitigate
• moderate
• promote
• relax
• relieve
• simplify
• soften
• soothe
• speed