speed
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speed
(spēd)These verbs mean to proceed or cause to proceed rapidly or more rapidly. Speed refers to swift motion or action: The train sped through the countryside. Postal workers labored overtime to speed delivery of the holiday mail. Hurry implies a markedly faster rate than usual, often with concomitant confusion or commotion: Hurry, or you'll miss the plane! Don't let anyone hurry you into making a decision. Hasten suggests urgency and often eager or rash swiftness: My doctor hastened to reassure me that the tests were negative. His off-color jokes only hastened his dismissal. Quicken and especially accelerate refer to increase in rate of activity, growth, or progress: The skater's breathing quickened as he neared the end of his routine. The runner quickened her pace as she drew near the finish line. The economic expansion has continued but is no longer accelerating. Heat greatly accelerates the deterioration of perishable foods. See Also Synonyms at haste.
speed
(spiːd)speed
(spid)n., v. sped speed•ed, speed•ing. n.
Speed
See Also: RUNNING
- (Poems have become) as instant as coffee or onion soup mix —Donald Hall
- (They’ll whip her back … ) as quick as shit through a goose —Derek Lambert
- As swift as meditation, or the thoughts of love —William Shakespeare
- As swiftly as a reach of still water is crisped by the wind —Rudyard Kipling
- Be not in a hurry, like the almond, first to blossom and last to ripen. Be rather like the mulberry, last to blossom and first to ripen —The Holy Bible/Apocrypha
- The crowd was moving fast … like a big spread ravelling, and the separate threads disappeared down the dark street —Flannery O’Connor
- Drive [a car] like the hounds of hell —Rosamund Pilcher
- Fast as a bird on the wing —Anon
- Fast as a cat scurrying up a tree at the approach of a strange dog —Anon
- Fast as a cook cracks eggs —Thomas Nash
- Fast as a heartbeat —John D. MacDonald
- Fast as a jet —Mark Helprin
- Fast as a pickpocket —Anon
- Fast as a propeller —Bertold Brecht
- (Scrambles into the room,) fast as a spider —Robert Silverberg
- Fast as greased lightning —American colloquialism
- Fast as the blink of an eye —Anon
- Fast-moving as the gray fox that climbs trees after squirrels —Marge Piercy
- (Little and) fleet as a terrier running beside a bloodhound —Erich Maria Remarque
- (To vanish,) fleet as days and months and years, fleet as the generations of mankind —William Wordsworth
- Flying like ice in a sleet storm —Ben Ames Williams
- Fly like a donkey with pepper up its behind —Aharon Megged
- Galloped through [religious mass] like a man with witches after him —Edith Wharton
- Goes like a ship-lash flicked across a horse’s neck —Rudyard Kipling
- Going like flames —Samuel Beckett
- Going like sixty —F. D. Reeve
- Go like a house afire —Anon
One of many “Go like” similes that have worked their way into the American language mainstream since the late 1830s. Some other examples: “Go like a shot,” “Go like hell” and “Go like mad.”
- Go through like a dose of salts —American colloquialism
While purgative salts are pretty much a thing of the past, the simile endures as a way to describe a very rapid pace. With the penchant for brand names, “Go through like Ex-Lax” has become a common alternative.
- Go through them [reading materials] like a kid through potato chips —James Crumley
- He rushed past her like a football tackle —James Thurber
- (Wedding plans were) hurtling along like a train on tracks —Paul Reidinger
- Insectlike swiftness —Saul Bellow
- It must be done like lightning —Ben Jonson
- Just a glance, like passing your eyes over the spines of books without being able to read the title … that quick —Arthur A. Cohen
See Also: LOOKS
- (Scurried off, his) legs going like a windmill —Paige Mitchell
See Also: MOVEMENT
- Like a sunbeam, swift and bright —Sir Walter Scott
- Move with the speed of a Grand Prix Racer —Anon
- Moving fast as a train —Anon
- My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle —The Holy Bible/Job
While this simile is not much used these days, it is the one that has seeded the many contemporary variations.
- Quick and nimble, more like a bear than a squirrel —Henry G. Bohn’s Handbook of Proverbs
- Quick as a lizard —Anthony Trollope
- Quick as an attack dog —Gloria Norris
- (Acted) quick as a knife —Penelope Gilliatt
- (The wolf … ate her up as) quick as a slap —Anne Sexton
- Quick as a striking snake —George Garrett
- Quick as a weasel —Robert B. Parker
- Quick as a wink —Anon
While variations such as “Quick as dust” and “Quick as scat” have faded from the American vocabulary, “Quick as a wink” endures to the point of overuse.
- (Goes) quick as light —Noël Coward, lyrics for “Chase Me Charlie”
- Quick as lightning —Frances Sheridan
The American adaption of the simile first used by Sheridan in a play named Discovery is “Quick as greased lightning.”
- Quick as mercury —Marguerite Yourcenar
- (Slipped down) quick as minnows —Marge Piercy
- (Barry’s eye was as) quick as sound —Frank Swinnerton
- Quicker than a crab underwater —John Updike
- Quicker than boiling asparagus —Caesar Augustus
According to Stevenson’s Proverbs, Maxims and Famous Sayings, Augustus used this expression whenever he wanted anything to be done fast.
- Quick on his feet as a running deer —Stephen Vincent Benét
- (Lavella’s brain) raced like a trapped rabbit —William Beechcroft
- (Feet) rapid as the river —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Rash as fire —William Shakespeare
- (Raleigh) rushed through (these hypotheses) like rosary beads —Michael Malone
- (Men) rushing like they were bolt out of a cannon —Richard Ford
- Rushing wildly from room to room like a flustered hen —Christopher Isherwood
- Scurried like a crab —Michael Malone
- She was so swift … it was like having a small cute dog with you —Isak Dinesen
- Some people are too fast for their own good, like Asahel in the Book of Samuel —Saul Bellow
- Sped around like intergalactic missiles —Lisa Harris
Harris’s simile describes the activity of the Lubavitcher women in Crown Heights, the subject of her book The World of a Hasidic Family.
- (The game) speeds along like a fast freight —W. P. Kinsella
The game speeding along is baseball, the background for The Iowa Baseball Confederacy and other Kinsella novels.
- Speedy as a steam roller —George Ade
- Started for me (as to attack) like a streak of lightning —Rex Stout
- Swift as a cloud between sea and sky —Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Swift as a greyhound —Ouida
- Swift as a mugger —David Leavitt
- Swift as an arrow —Anon
This has been attributed to numerous sources dating back to the early seventeenth century.
- Swift as a plunging knife —Rudyard Kipling
- Swift as a shadow —William Shakespeare
- Swift as desire —Mary Pix
- Swift as fear —Thomas Parnell
- Swift as the eagle (flieth) —The Holy Bible/Deuteronomy
- Swift as the waters —The Holy Bible/Job
- Swift as thought —William Shakespeare
- Swift as unbridled rage —Henry Abbey
- Swifter than the wind —William Shakespeare
- Swift in motion as a ball —William Shakespeare
- (Fluttering her bristly black lashes as) swiftly as butterflies’ wings —Margaret Mitchell
The girl fluttering her lashes is Scarlett O’Hara of Gone with the Wind fame.
- Travelling fast as a wish —Elizabeth Bishop
- (The race) went by like an express train —Enid Bagnold
- (She dressed and) went off like a top with the whip behind it —Vicki Baum
- Went past … like lightning past a hill —Jessamyn West
- Went through it like a clown through a paper hoop —Temole Scott
- Went through like shit through a tin horn —American colloquialism
speed
Fast, quick, rapid, and swift are all used to say taht something moves or happens with great speed. Rapid and swift are not usually used in conversation.
Fast is used both as an adjective and an adverb. There is no adverb 'fastly'.
Quick is an adjective. You do not usually used it as an adverb. Instead you use the adverb quickly.
In conversation, you can use the comparative form quicker as an adverb.
You can use the superlative form quickest as an adverb in speech or writing.
Rapid and swift are adjectives. The corresponding adverbs are rapidly and swiftly.
Fast is the word you usually use when you are asking about the speed of something.
You use fast to say that a vehicle is capable of moving with great speed.
You do not usually use fast to talk about people, but you can use it in front of words like driver and runner to say that someone drives quickly or is capable of running quickly.
When you are talking about the speed at which something increases or decreases, you usually use rapid.
Fast, immediate, quick, rapid, and swift are all used to say that something happens without any delay.
You can use quick, rapid, or swift to say that something lasts only a short time.
speed
speed upSpeed can be a noun or a verb.
The speed of someone or something is the rate at which they move.
Speed is often used in prepositional phrases beginning with at or with.
You can say that someone or something moves at a particular speed.
If you want to emphasize how fast something is moving, you can use at and an adjective in front of speed.
If you want to emphasize how quickly something happens or is done, you use with and an adjective in front of speed.
In stories, if someone speeds somewhere, they move or travel there quickly. When speed has this meaning, its past tense and past participle is sped.
If something speeds up or if you speed it up, it moves, happens, or is done more quickly.
The past tense and past participle of speed up is speeded up.
speed
Past participle: speeded/sped
Gerund: speeding
Imperative |
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speed |
speed |
Noun | 1. | speed - distance travelled per unit time angular velocity - (physics) the rate of change of the angular position of a rotating body; usually expressed in radians per second or radians per minute airspeed - the speed of an aircraft relative to the air in which it is flying escape velocity - the minimum velocity needed to escape a gravitational field groundspeed - the speed of an aircraft relative to the ground hypervelocity - excessive velocity; "the meteorites struck the earth with hypervelocity impacts" muzzle velocity - the velocity of a projectile as it leaves the muzzle of a gun peculiar velocity - velocity with respect to the local standard of rest radial velocity - velocity along the line of sight toward or away from the observer light speed, speed of light, c - the speed at which light travels in a vacuum; the constancy and universality of the speed of light is recognized by defining it to be exactly 299,792,458 meters per second steerageway - (nautical) the minimum rate of motion needed for a vessel to be maneuvered terminal velocity - the constant maximum velocity reached by a body falling through the atmosphere under the attraction of gravity rate - a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit; "they traveled at a rate of 55 miles per hour"; "the rate of change was faster than expected" |
2. | speed - a rate (usually rapid) at which something happens; "the project advanced with gratifying speed" pace, rate - the relative speed of progress or change; "he lived at a fast pace"; "he works at a great rate"; "the pace of events accelerated" haste, hastiness, hurriedness, hurry, precipitation - overly eager speed (and possible carelessness); "he soon regretted his haste" execution speed - (computer science) the speed with which a computational device can execute instructions; measured in MIPS graduality, gradualness - the quality of being gradual or of coming about by gradual stages | |
3. | speed - changing location rapidly movement, move, motion - the act of changing location from one place to another; "police controlled the motion of the crowd"; "the movement of people from the farms to the cities"; "his move put him directly in my path" deceleration - the act of decelerating; decreasing the speed; "he initiated deceleration by braking" | |
4. | speed - the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of a (camera) lens system ratio - the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient) | |
5. | speed - a central nervous system stimulant that increases energy and decreases appetite; used to treat narcolepsy and some forms of depression amphetamine sulfate, amphetamine sulphate - a sulfate derivative of amphetamine that is used as a stimulant for the central nervous system bennie, Benzedrine - a form of amphetamine Dexedrine, dextroamphetamine sulphate - an isomer of amphetamine (trade name Dexedrine) used as a central nervous system stimulant drug of abuse, street drug - a drug that is taken for nonmedicinal reasons (usually for mind-altering effects); drug abuse can lead to physical and mental damage and (with some substances) dependence and addiction deoxyephedrine, meth, methamphetamine, methamphetamine hydrochloride, Methedrine, shabu, chicken feed, crank, chalk, trash, glass, ice - an amphetamine derivative (trade name Methedrine) used in the form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous system and as an appetite suppressant | |
Verb | 1. | speed - move fast; "He rushed down the hall to receive his guests"; "The cars raced down the street" belt along, bucket along, cannonball along, hie, hotfoot, pelt along, race, rush, rush along, step on it, hasten go, locomote, move, travel - change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically; "How fast does your new car go?"; "We travelled from Rome to Naples by bus"; "The policemen went from door to door looking for the suspect"; "The soldiers moved towards the city in an attempt to take it before night fell"; "news travelled fast" shoot down, tear, buck, charge, shoot - move quickly and violently; "The car tore down the street"; "He came charging into my office" |
2. | speed - move faster; "The car accelerated" | |
3. | speed - move very fast; "The runner zipped past us at breakneck speed" go, locomote, move, travel - change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically; "How fast does your new car go?"; "We travelled from Rome to Naples by bus"; "The policemen went from door to door looking for the suspect"; "The soldiers moved towards the city in an attempt to take it before night fell"; "news travelled fast" dart, fleet, flit, flutter - move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart; "The hummingbird flitted among the branches" run - move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time; "Don't run--you'll be out of breath"; "The children ran to the store" | |
4. | speed - travel at an excessive or illegal velocity; "I got a ticket for speeding" go, locomote, move, travel - change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically; "How fast does your new car go?"; "We travelled from Rome to Naples by bus"; "The policemen went from door to door looking for the suspect"; "The soldiers moved towards the city in an attempt to take it before night fell"; "news travelled fast" | |
5. | speed - cause to move faster; "He accelerated the car" |
speed
race creep, crawl, take your time, dawdle, tarry
speed
nounspeed
[spiːd] (sped or speeded (vb: pt, pp))shorthand/typing speed → velocidad f en taquigrafía/mecanografía
my typing speed is 60 words per minute → mecanografío 60 palabras por minuto
at speed → a gran velocidad
at a speed of 70km/h → a una velocidad de 70km por hora
what speed were you doing? (Aut) → ¿a qué velocidad ibas?
at full speed → a toda velocidad, a máxima velocidad
full speed ahead! → ¡avante toda!
to gather speed → acelerar, cobrar velocidad
the speed of light → la velocidad de la luz
the maximum speed is 120km/h → la velocidad máxima es de 120km por hora
to pick up speed → acelerar, cobrar velocidad
the speed of sound → la velocidad del sonido
at top speed → a toda velocidad, a máxima velocidad
to be up to speed (= well-informed) → estar al día, estar al corriente; (= functioning properly) → estar a punto, funcionar a pleno rendimiento
to bring sb up to speed → poner a algn al día or al corriente
to bring sth up to speed → poner algo a punto
see also full A3
a three-speed bike → una bicicleta de tres marchas or velocidades
a five-speed gearbox → una caja de cambios de cinco velocidades
he sped down the street → corrió a toda prisa por la calle
to speed along → ir a gran velocidad
the years sped by → pasaron los años volando
to speed off → marcharse a toda prisa
speed cop N → policía m de tráfico, policía m de tránsito
speed limit N → velocidad f máxima, límite m de velocidad
a 50km/h speed limit → velocidad máxima (permitida) de 50km por hora
to exceed the speed limit → exceder la velocidad permitida or el límite de velocidad
speed merchant N → corredor(a) m/f
speed restriction N → limitación f de velocidad
speed skater N → patinador(a) m/f de velocidad
speed skating N → patinaje m de velocidad
speed trap N (Aut) sistema policial para detectar infracciones de velocidad
speed
[ˈspiːd]None of us grows at the same speed → Personne ne grandit à la même vitesse.
at full speed, at top speed → à toute vitesse, à toute allure
at a speed of 70 km/h → à une vitesse de 70 km/h
shorthand speeds → nombre m de mots à la minute en sténographie
typing speed → vitesse f de frappe
to be up to speed on sth (= in touch with developments) → être à la page sur qch
the pleasure associated with speed → le plaisir associé à la vitesse
with remarkable speed (= very quickly) → avec une promptitude remarquable
She answered my letter with remarkable speed → Elle a répondu à ma lettre avec une promptitude remarquable.
at speed → à vive allure
a five-speed gearbox → une boîte cinq vitesses
a three-speed bike → un vélo à trois vitesses
speed
vb: pret, ptp <sped or speeded>speed
:speed
:speed
:speed
:speed
[spiːd]at speed (Brit) → velocemente
at full speed, at top speed → a tutta velocità
at a speed of 70 km/h → a una velocità di 70 km all'ora
the speed of light/sound → la velocità della luce/del suono
what speed were you doing? (Aut) → a che velocità andavi?
to pick up or gather speed (car) → acquistare velocità (project, work) → procedere più speditamente
the speed of his reactions → la sua prontezza di riflessi
shorthand/typing speeds → numero di parole al minuto in stenografia/dattilografia
to speed away or off (car, person) → sfrecciare via
the years sped by → gli anni sono volati