- 1[intransitive, transitive] to happen or to make something happen faster or earlier than expected Inflation continues to accelerate. accelerate something Exposure to the sun can accelerate the ageing process. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbdramatically, greatly, rapidly, … See full entry
- 2[intransitive] (of a vehicle or person) to start to go faster The runners accelerated smoothly around the bend. The car accelerated to overtake me. Wordfindercaraccelerate, brake, car, commute, driving, licence, motorist, road, road tax, traffic Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbhard, quickly, smoothly, … See full entry See related entries: Driving opposite decelerate Word Originearly 16th cent. (in the sense to make something happen faster): from Latin accelerat- ‘hastened’, from the verb accelerare, from ad- ‘towards’ + celer ‘swift’.Extra examples Government policy has greatly accelerated the decline of the small farmer. Population growth accelerated only after 1750. The Aids epidemic is accelerating dramatically. The car purred into life and accelerated away. The pace of change has begun to accelerate. factors which may accelerate inflation rapidly accelerating social change Environmental factors can accelerate the development of certain cancers. He vowed to intensify efforts to accelerate the structural reform of the economy.
accelerate
verbBrE BrE//əkˈseləreɪt//; NAmE NAmE//əkˈseləreɪt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they accelerate BrE BrE//əkˈseləreɪt//; NAmE NAmE//əkˈseləreɪt//
he / she / it accelerates BrE BrE//əkˈseləreɪts//; NAmE NAmE//əkˈseləreɪts//
past simple accelerated BrE BrE//əkˈseləreɪtɪd//; NAmE NAmE//əkˈseləreɪtɪd//
past participle accelerated BrE BrE//əkˈseləreɪtɪd//; NAmE NAmE//əkˈseləreɪtɪd//
-ing form accelerating BrE BrE//əkˈseləreɪtɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//əkˈseləreɪtɪŋ//
DrivingCheck pronunciation: accelerate
