acceleration

noun

ac·​cel·​er·​a·​tion ik-ˌse-lə-ˈrā-shən How to pronounce acceleration (audio)
(ˌ)ak-
1
a
: the act or process of moving faster or happening more quickly : the act or process of accelerating
rapid acceleration
the acceleration of economic growth
b
: ability to accelerate
a car with good acceleration
2
physics : the rate of change of velocity with respect to time
broadly : change of velocity

Examples of acceleration in a Sentence

The car delivers quick acceleration. There has been some acceleration in economic growth. There has been an acceleration in economic growth.
Recent Examples on the Web That hasn't always been standard in the automotive industry; in 2010, Toyota recalled millions of vehicles after thousands of complaints of unintended acceleration. Brian Barrett, WIRED, 19 Apr. 2024 Small businesses’ inflation issues mirror the acceleration in the increase of the consumer price index this year, from a 3.1% annual rate in January to 3.5% in March. Bywill Daniel, Fortune, 10 Apr. 2024 Image: Google Google is also updating its TPU AI chips that are used as alternatives to Nvidia’s GPUs for AI acceleration tasks. Tom Warren, The Verge, 9 Apr. 2024 Racing around the environment’s futuristic track, steering, acceleration, and the overall gameplay felt smooth, without screen tearing, any heavy swells or ebbs in the frame rate, or any kind of slowdowns in more graphically intense moments. John Burek, PCMAG, 6 Apr. 2024 The engines pull in air, which has mass, and quickly push that air out of the back of the engine – so there’s a mass multiplied by an acceleration. Craig Merrett, Discover Magazine, 25 Mar. 2024 But even in February and March, as a key inflation measure, the consumer price index, showed an acceleration in price increases in the first two months of the year, the S&P 500 largely shrugged off the concerns and continued its march higher. Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2024 This fake force will be proportional to the acceleration of the frame, but in the opposite direction. Rhett Allain, WIRED, 12 Apr. 2024 Businesses today want employees who not only bring ideas to fruition but who lead the process end to end: from idea to invention to incubation to acceleration. Sarah Davanzo, Rolling Stone, 11 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'acceleration.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French acceleratiun, borrowed from Latin accelerātiōn-, accelerātiō, from accelerāre "to accelerate" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of acceleration was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near acceleration

Cite this Entry

“Acceleration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acceleration. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

acceleration

noun
ac·​cel·​er·​a·​tion ik-ˌsel-ə-ˈrā-shən How to pronounce acceleration (audio)
ak-
1
: the act or process of accelerating : the state of being accelerated
2
: the rate of change of velocity with respect to time
also : change in velocity

Medical Definition

acceleration

noun
ac·​cel·​er·​a·​tion ik-ˌsel-ə-ˈrā-shən, (ˌ)ak- How to pronounce acceleration (audio)
1
: the act or process of accelerating : the state of being accelerated
2
: change of velocity
also : the rate of this change
3
: advancement in mental growth or achievement beyond the average for one's age
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