Accelerating
/əkˈseləˌreɪtɪŋ/
verbIntermediateVery CommonGeneral
Meaning
Question
Definitions
1
move faster
/əkˈseləˌreɪt/
verbneutralIntermediate
General
increase in speed
The athlete accelerated before reaching the finish line.
💡 Simply: speeding up
How It's Used
Physics
"The car is accelerating as it goes downhill."
Economy
"The economy is accelerating, which is a good sign for recovery."
From Latin accelerare ‘hasten’, from ad- ‘towards’ + celer ‘swift’.
Historically, accelerate was primarily used in the context of physics and engineering, but it has now expanded to various fields.
Memory tip
Imagine a car racing and leaving the starting line - it's accelerating.
Practice
Base: accelerate
acceleratinglyacceleratinglysaccelerateracceleratersaccellerating
Usage
75%Spoken
25%Written