accelerate

[æk.ˈsɛl.ə.ˌɹeɪt]

Language▾

German

Persian

Russian

Spanish

An accelerator helps make something go faster or move at a higher speed.

When people talk about accelerating, they usually mean making something get faster or moving quicker. It's often used when discussing cars, as in "the car accelerated quickly up the hill." But it can also refer to anything that speeds up, like a rocket gaining momentum to reach orbit. In sports, players might need to accelerate their speed on the court to catch an opponent off guard.

How common is "accelerate"?

Word accelerate is considered uncommon in modern English.
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.

Definitions

verb

To cause to move faster; to quicken the motion of; to add to the speed of.
To quicken the natural or ordinary progression or process of.
Example: to accelerate the growth of a plant, the increase of wealth, etc.
To cause a change of velocity.
To hasten, as the occurrence of an event.
Example: to accelerate our departure
To enable a student to finish a course of study in less than normal time.
To become faster; to begin to move more quickly.
Grow; increase.