accelerate
Americanverb (used with object)
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accelerates,
present (3rd person singular)
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accelerated,
past participle, past
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accelerating
present participle
-
to cause faster or greater activity, development, progress, advancement, etc., in.
to accelerate economic growth.
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to hasten the occurrence of.
to accelerate the fall of a government.
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Mechanics. to change the velocity of (a body) or the rate of (motion); cause to undergo acceleration.
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to reduce the time required for (a course of study) by intensifying the work, eliminating detail, etc.
verb (used without object)
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accelerates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
accelerated,
past participle, past
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accelerating
present participle
-
to move or go faster; increase in speed.
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to progress or develop faster.
verb
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to go, occur, or cause to go or occur more quickly; speed up
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(tr) to cause to happen sooner than expected
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(tr) to increase the velocity of (a body, reaction, etc); cause acceleration
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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overaccelerateverb
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reaccelerateverb
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accelerableadjective
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accelerativeadjective
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self-acceleratingadjective
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unacceleratedadjective
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acceleratedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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acceleratesimple
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acceleratessimple
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have acceleratedperfect
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has acceleratedperfect
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am acceleratingprogressive
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are acceleratingprogressive
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is acceleratingprogressive
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have been acceleratingperfect progressive
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has been acceleratingperfect progressive
Past
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acceleratedsimple
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had acceleratedperfect
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was acceleratingprogressive
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were acceleratingprogressive
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had been acceleratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of accelerate
First recorded in 1515–25; from Latin accelerātus “sped up,” past participle of accelerāre “to speed up,” from ac- ac- + celerāre “to hasten, hurry” (from celer “swift”)
Explanation
Accelerate means to speed up. A car accelerates when you step on the gas. You can accelerate the process of getting a visa if you happen to know someone who works in the consulate. The fastest Amtrak trains are called the Acela line, a made-up word intended to suggest accelerate and therefore communicate that these trains are fast. If you are standing close to one when it zooms by, you may find yourself having an accelerated heart rate — they move pretty fast!
Vocabulary lists containing accelerate
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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Holes
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 2
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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:
The miss sucked the hope from Pakistan and England were able to accelerate towards their target.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Policymakers have sought to accelerate fiscal spending, but the effects are unlikely to appear in the August investment data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
The pictures he took were used in court as evidence and helped convict the company as well as accelerate environmental awareness globally.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
But to the extent Kim responds to other leaders’ signals, Trump’s comment may move him to accelerate the expansion of Pyongyang’s arsenal.
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2026
The theory of relativity says that the rocket power needed to accelerate a spaceship gets greater and greater the nearer it gets to the speed of light.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
“This transaction accelerates our ambition to become an industrial technology partner to the data center industry and help customers address the growing infrastructure complexity required to scale AI,” SLB Chief Executive Olivier Le Peuch said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
As Falcon Heavy accelerates through Earth's atmosphere, Roman will experience powerful sound waves, aerodynamic pressure, and significant heating.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
Moderna’s breakthrough highlights a broader transformation, as AI accelerates the clinical development of therapies at a pace that would have seemed unimaginable a few years ago.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
So some analysts think interest rates may not rise this year - but there are still risks they do, especially if inflation accelerates by an unexpected amount.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
At one and a half miles above sea level, the train accelerates to 35 miles per hour.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
“This important work is being accelerated across the Department to support healthy mothers, healthy babies, and strong families,” the spokesperson said.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
Underlying price growth has accelerated to 5%-6% in annualized terms, it said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
The North's nuclear programme has accelerated under Kim, who has overseen a record number of missile tests.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Warming has accelerated glacier retreat across the Himalayas, exposing previously ice-covered rock to changing temperatures and water conditions.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Quixote landed with a screeching meow and a thud, Dad accelerated up the road, and I burst into tears.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
By summer, Canadian and European officials were accelerating their discussions in a proliferating number of diplomatic backchannels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Now, Carney was accelerating Canada’s pivot to Europe, matchmaking a shotgun marriage to offset the pain of its divorce with America.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Today, European stocks are a higher-quality, better capitalized version than they were before the 2008 global financial crisis, with partial exposure to the AI/data-center supercycle, accelerating fiscal spending and global orientation, they declare.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
"If this effect is not accounted for, it can lead to the erroneous conclusion that the expansion rate is accelerating."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
His voice was accelerating with emotion and rising again.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
