accelerate

verb

ac·cel·er·ate ik-ˈse-lə-ˌrāt

ak-

accelerated; accelerating

intransitive verb

: to move faster : to gain speed

The car slowly accelerated.

The pace of change has accelerated in recent months.

: to progress from grade to grade more rapidly than usual : to follow a speeded-up educational program

transitive verb

: to bring about at an earlier time

Circumstances accelerated their departure.

: to cause to move faster

accelerated his steps

also : to cause to undergo acceleration

: to hasten the progress or development of

accelerate our efforts

: increase

accelerate food production

: to enable (a student) to complete a course in less than usual time

: to speed up (something, such as a course of study)

Example Sentences

She stepped on the gas and the car accelerated. The plane accelerated down the runway. She stepped on the gas and accelerated the car. He says that cutting taxes will help to accelerate economic growth. The rate of economic growth has continued to accelerate.

Recent Examples on the Web The move creates a new chain of command over sensitive investigations seen as likely to accelerate now that the midterm elections have concluded.

Los Angeles Times, 23 Nov. 2022 On the plus side, demand for electric vehicles and hybrids continues to accelerate.

San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Nov. 2022 That added to inflation that began to accelerate last year when the global economy began to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Danica Kirka, ajc, 3 Nov. 2022 Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global, said that the downturn is likely to accelerate towards the end of the year, despite recent falls in energy prices.

Hanna Ziady, CNN, 27 Oct. 2022 The ad barrage against Johnson, underway for more than a year, is likely to accelerate.

Journal Sentinel, 20 Oct. 2022 More Americans are turning to buy now, pay later apps to afford everyday necessities, but an increasing share of consumers aren’t making payments on time, a trend likely to accelerate as the U.S. economy inches closer to a recession.

Elisabeth Buchwald, USA TODAY, 16 Oct. 2022 Hackett, Ashe and Joe Darda of Chaplin, who finished fourth, ran together until about Mile 15 when Hackett began to accelerate.

Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 8 Oct. 2022 And all of this is taking place as the frequency of security exploits continues to accelerate.

Conal Gallagher, Forbes, 5 Oct. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'accelerate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin accelerātus, past participle of accelerāre "to add speed to, hasten the occurrence of, go quickly," from ad- ad- + celerāre "to hasten," verbal derivative of celer "swift, speedy," perhaps going back to *keli-li-/ri-, derivative from the Indo-European base of Greek kélomai, kelésthai "urge, exhort," kelēt-, kélēs "swift horse, charger"

First Known Use

circa 1522, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of accelerate was circa 1522

See more words from the same year