to go, occur, or cause to go or occur more quickly; speed up - (transitive)
to cause to happen sooner than expected - (transitive)
to increase the velocity of (a body, reaction, etc); cause acceleration
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
ac•cel•er•ate /ækˈsɛləˌreɪt/USA pronunciation
v., -at•ed, -at•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- to (cause to) develop, progress, or advance faster: [no object]The unemployment rate accelerated.[~ + object]Those policies accelerated unemployment.
- to increase the speed (of): [~ + object]The driver accelerated the car.[no object]The car accelerated.
- to hasten the occurrence of:[~ + object]The economic policies accelerated the recession.
ac•cel•er•ate
(ak sel′ə rāt′),USA pronunciation v., -at•ed, -at•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
ac•cel′er•a•ble, adj.
ac•cel′er•at′ed•ly, adv.
v.t.
- to cause faster or greater activity, development, progress, advancement, etc., in:to accelerate economic growth.
- to hasten the occurrence of:to accelerate the fall of a government.
- Mechanicsto change the velocity of (a body) or the rate of (motion);
cause to undergo acceleration. - to reduce the time required for (a course of study) by intensifying the work, eliminating detail, etc.
v.i.
- to move or go faster;
increase in speed. - to progress or develop faster.
- Latin accelerātus speeded up (past participle of accelerāre), equivalent. to ac- ac- + celer swift + -ātus -ate1
- 1515–25
ac•cel′er•at′ed•ly, adv.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'accelerated' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Generation X
- Paget's disease
- accelerated reader
- acceleration
- alla breve
- betatron
- defroster
- electric field
- electromagnetic field
- electronvolt
- fictitious force
- field-emission microscope
- flight of ideas
- gravitational wave
- high-energy physics
- hypervelocity
- inflationary universe
- letdown
- linear accelerator
- photomultiplier
- photosensitivity
- reaction turbine
- rise
- slow motion
- soil creep
- superbaby
- synchrotron
- tachy-