acceleration

noun

ac·cel·er·a·tion | \ik-ˌse-lə-ˈrā-shən,

(ˌ)ak-\

Definition of acceleration

1a : 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

But according to Apple, the watch has an accelerometer and gyroscope, which together measure impact acceleration and wrist trajectory to detect if the wearer has taken a hard fall. — Amy Marturana, SELF, "I Tried the Apple Watch Series 4 for a Week—Here’s What I Loved About It," 19 Sep. 2018 But property developers’ year-to-date funding actually rose 6.9% on the year, according to ANZ, the second straight month of acceleration. — Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, "Collapsing Investment Doesn’t Mean Collapsing China," 17 Sep. 2018 With 151 horsepower, Insight is designed to have brisk acceleration. — David Pan, USA TODAY, "2019 Honda Insight Hybrid Goes on Sale," 1 July 2018 So, as the researchers explained in the new paper, part of the object's acceleration isn't caused by gravity. — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, "Interstellar Visitor 'Oumuamua Is a Comet After All," 27 June 2018 This means that the horizontal velocity is constant and the vertical motion has a constant acceleration. — Rhett Allain, WIRED, "Something's Off With the Turbolaser Shots in The Last Jedi," 11 May 2018 But the Model 3 reportedly does use a PM system, likely because magnets economize space and weight (which can affect battery range), and such motors tend to have better acceleration. — Megan Geuss, Ars Technica, "Toyota’s new magnet won’t depend on some key rare-earth minerals," 28 Feb. 2018 The Mitsubishi app uses smartphone sensors that measure things like acceleration, location and rotation. — Chester Dawson, WSJ, "Mitsubishi Bets People Will Reveal Their Driving Habits to Insurers—For a Freebie," 6 July 2018 Oh, the direction of this acceleration (as a vector) is towards the center of the circle. — Rhett Allain, WIRED, "The Physics of a Spinning Spacecraft in The Expanse," 29 June 2018

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