accelerate

verb

ac·cel·er·ate | \ ik-ˈse-lə-ˌrāt

, ak-\

accelerated; accelerating

Definition of accelerate

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

3a : to hasten the progress or development of accelerate our efforts

b : increase accelerate food production

4a : to enable (a student) to complete a course in less than usual time

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

Other Words from accelerate Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about accelerate

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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

Elrond and Agent Smith) in what should be a career-accelerating performance, delivered from inside a steadily deteriorating wedding dress. — Ross Douthat, National Review, "Horror-Comedy Ready or Not Plays on Primal Human Fears," 12 Sep. 2019 The government has downplayed those predictions, saying they were made before the government started accelerating preparations. — Fox News, "UK PM Boris Johnson denies lying to queen as he struggles to get Brexit done," 12 Sep. 2019 The accelerating pace of events suggests that Britain’s Brexit nightmare may finally be approaching an endgame after years of paralysis. — Stephen Castle, BostonGlobe.com, "Johnson loses Brexit vote, as lawmakers rebel," 3 Sep. 2019 The industry responded to this by accelerating the product development cycle and doing collaborations with influencers. — Sangeeta Singh-kurtz, Quartzy, "Ulta is struggling because of your boring beauty routine," 30 Aug. 2019 Hobbyists and teenagers are now developing tech powered by machine learning and WIRED shows the impacts of AI on schoolchildren and farmers and senior citizens, as well as looking at the implications that rapidly accelerating technology can have. — Tom Simonite, WIRED, "Ask the Know-It-Alls: How Do Machines Learn?," 26 Aug. 2019 City officials are struggling with how to incentivize the development of more affordable homes as housing costs accelerate faster than local incomes. — Madison Iszler, ExpressNews.com, "Home construction in San Antonio jumps to record level," 13 Aug. 2019 The accelerating destruction of the Amazon forest, which researchers fear may be approaching a point of no return, is of particular concern. — The Economist, "Gloom from the climate-change front line," 10 Aug. 2019 First Street Foundation Making matters worse, the FEMA maps used to determine risk are outdated and, like the real estate industry at large, don’t take into account the accelerating risks of climate change. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "How federal flood policy is, and isn’t, addressing climate change today," 29 July 2019

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.

History and Etymology for accelerate

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"