accelerate

verb

ac·​cel·​er·​ate ik-ˈse-lə-ˌrāt 

ak-

accelerated; accelerating

intransitive verb

1

: to move faster : to gain speed

The car slowly accelerated.

The pace of change has accelerated in recent months.

2

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

transitive verb

1

: to bring about at an earlier time

Circumstances accelerated their departure.

2

: to cause to move faster

accelerated his steps

also : to cause to undergo acceleration

3

a

: to hasten the progress or development of

accelerate our efforts

b

: increase

accelerate food production

4

a

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

b

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

Synonyms

• accumulate
• appreciate
• balloon
• boom
• build up
• burgeon
• bourgeon
• climb
• enlarge
• escalate
• expand
• gain
• increase
• mount
• multiply
• mushroom
• proliferate
• rise
• roll up
• snowball
• spread
• swell
• wax

Examples of accelerate in a Sentence

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

But when compared to last year’s unreliable defense that failed to close out numerous close games, much less help accelerate blowouts, what the unit is doing this year is a breath of fresh air in Boulder. —Kyle Newman, The Denver Post, 16 Nov. 2024

The technology is also transforming medical imaging and has been helpful in accelerating the drug discovery process. —Nir Eisikovits, Discover Magazine, 14 Nov. 2024

Talks host Azerbaijan has lobbied governments to accelerate their move to clean energy while touting gas as a transition fuel. —Reuters, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024

Canopy Growth continues to focus on its strategy to accelerate entry into the U.S. cannabis market through Canopy USA, LLC, and has reported various balance sheet deleveraging initiatives. —Quartz Bot, Quartz, 8 Nov. 2024

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 verbal base *kelh₁- "set in motion," whence also Greek (o)kéllō, (o)kéllein "to bring (a ship, person) to shore," Lithuanian keliù, kélti "to settle (farm animals) on a different pasture," Tocharian A källāskeṃ "(they) bring," śala "(s/he) brought," Tocharian B kalṣtar "(s/he) goads, drives (animals)"

Note: This etymology largely follows D. Adams, A Dictionary of Tocharian B, Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Amsterdam/New York, 2013) and I. Seržant, "Die idg. Wurzeln *kel₁- 'etw. bewegen' und *kelh₃- 'sich erheben'," Indogermanische Forschungen, Band 113 (2008), pp. 59-75, though Seržant does not mention Latin celer, and Adams, presumably by mistake, switches *h₁ and *h₃. The reconstruction departs from Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (2nd edition, p. 348), where a laryngeal-free base *kel- "drive, urge" (antreiben) is assumed. All the above authors also adduce Greek kélomai, kélesthai "to call out, call upon (a god), order, compel"; the "call" sense of this verb, however, may have been primary. See also clonus, hold entry 1.

First Known Use

circa 1522, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

accelerate

verb

ac·​cel·​er·​ate ik-ˈsel-ə-ˌrāt 

ak-

accelerated; accelerating

1

: to bring about earlier

accelerated our departure

2

: to move or cause to move faster

accelerative

-ˌrāt-iv

adjective

Medical Definition

accelerate

verb

ac·​cel·​er·​ate ik-ˈsel-ə-ˌrāt, ak- 

accelerated; accelerating

transitive verb

: to cause to move faster or speed up

accelerated speech and motor activity in manic patients

also : to cause to undergo acceleration

intransitive verb

: to move faster : gain speed

Legal Definition

accelerate

verb

ac·​cel·​er·​ate

accelerated; accelerating

transitive verb

: to bring about at an earlier time: as

a

: to advance (the maturity date of a security agreement) so that payment of the debt in full is due immediately see also acceleration clause

b

: to cause (a future interest in property) to vest by removing the preceding interests (as by failure or premature termination)

intransitive verb

: to enforce an acceleration clause

held that the creditor's right to accelerate was suspended

—J. J. White and R. S. Summers

acceleration noun