Meaning & use
accelerate
Last updated
Meanings
verbintransitive
To move faster or to increase in speed.
Grammar: No object; the subject itself speeds up: the bus accelerated.
Patterns
- accelerate smoothly
- accelerate from 20 to 60
- accelerate toward
The train accelerated as it left the station.
Inflation accelerated during the second quarter.
verbtransitive
To make something happen sooner or develop more quickly.
Grammar: Takes an object: accelerate growth; contrast with no object in sales accelerated.
Patterns
- accelerate growth
- accelerate change
- accelerate something
New software helped accelerate the approval process.
The grant could accelerate repairs to the clinic.
verbintransitivephysics
In physics, to change velocity over time, including speeding up or slowing down.
Grammar: Specialist use; slowing down can still be acceleration because velocity changes.
Patterns
- accelerate at a rate
- accelerate uniformly
A falling ball accelerates at about 9.8 meters per second squared.
The car accelerated negatively as it braked.
Word forms
| third person singular | accelerates |
|---|---|
| past tense | accelerated |
| past participle | accelerated |
| -ing form | accelerating |
Common combinations
- accelerate rapidly
- Demand accelerated rapidly after the launch.
- accelerate growth
- mentors accelerate growth for new teachers.
- accelerate smoothly
- The hybrid car accelerated smoothly in traffic.
- accelerate the process
- Digital forms accelerate the process.
Synonyms and how they differ
- speed up
- Speed up is common and conversational; accelerate is slightly more formal and precise.
- hasten
- Hasten focuses on making an event arrive sooner, not physical speed.
- quicken
- Quicken often suggests becoming more active or lively, and sounds less technical than accelerate.
Opposites
Word family
- acceleration noun
- The act or rate of speeding up, or change in velocity.
- accelerator noun
- A pedal, machine, or thing that increases speed.
- accelerative adjective
- Causing or increasing acceleration; relatively rare.
Commonly confused: accelerate or excelerate? accelerate or decelerate?
accelerate vs excelerate
A common misspelling; the verb is accelerate, from the idea of increasing swiftness.
accelerate vs decelerate
Decelerate means slow down; accelerate means increase speed or rate.
Practice
Which sentence uses accelerate correctly as a transitive verb?
Choose one answer.
Accelerate the project means make the project move faster. Option An is intransitive; option C reverses the relationship oddly; option D uses accelerate with a noun phrase that does not need speeding up.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “accelerate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.