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

• increase
• rise
• expand
• swell

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

Flooding that started slow was quickly accelerating. —N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 8 July 2025

Whether through the Deloitte Global FoF framework or others, leaders can benefit from taking a structured approach to investing in smart operations and to accelerating the convergence of IT and OT. —John England, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025

Tatum’s injury accelerated the inevitable, as the Celtics offloaded Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday in an attempt to drop out of the dreaded second apron. —Jared Weiss, New York Times, 8 July 2025

The measure also guts investment in clean energy at a moment when climate disruption is not only real but also accelerating. —Thomas Kahn, Chicago Tribune, 8 July 2025

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

Rhymes for accelerate

• abbreviate
• accommodate
• accumulate
• acuminate
• adjudicate
• adulterate
• affiliate
• agglomerate
• agglutinate
• alleviate
• amalgamate
• ameliorate

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