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speed Definition

speed (spēd)

noun

  1. the act or state of moving rapidly; swiftness; quick motion
    1. the rate of movement or motion; velocity (sense )
    2. the magnitude of a velocity (sense )
    3. the rate or rapidity of any action reading speed
  3. a gear or arrangement of gears for the drive of an engine or bicycle a truck with five forward speeds
  4. Informal one's kind or level of taste, capability, etc.
  5. ☆ Slang any of various amphetamine compounds, esp. methedrine
  6. Archaic luck; success; prosperity to wish someone good speed
  7. Photog.
    1. the sensitivity of film to light, expressed in various numerical scales
    2. the widest effective aperture of a camera lens
    3. the length of time the shutter is opened for an exposure

Etymology: ME sped < OE spæd, wealth, power, success, akin to spowan, to prosper, succeed < IE base *spēi-, to flourish, expand > space, spare

adjective

of or having to do with speed

intransitive verb sped or speed′ed, speed′·ing

  1. to move rapidly, esp. more rapidly than is safe or allowed by law
  2. Archaic
    1. to get along; fare
    2. to have fortune, good or bad
    3. to have good fortune; prosper; succeed

transitive verb

  1. to help (a project) to succeed; aid; promote
  2. to wish Godspeed to to speed the parting guest
  3. to send, convey, or cause to move, go, etc. swiftly to speed a letter on its way
  4. to cause or design (a machine, etc.) to operate at a certain speed or speeds
  5. Archaic to cause to succeed or prosper

speed Idioms

at speed

Chiefly Brit. quickly; rapidly

speed up

to increase in speed; go or make go faster; accelerate

up to speed

  1. working or operating at full speed, maximum efficiency, etc.
  2. Informal fully informed or having enough information
speed Synonyms

speed

n.

swiftness, celerity, briskness, activity, eagerness, haste, hurry, promptitude, acceleration, dispatch, velocity, readiness, agility, liveliness, quickness, momentum, promptness, expedition, rapidity, alacrity, pace, precipitation, rush, precipitancy, urgency, legerity, rate, headway, breeze*, bat*, clip*, snap*, steam*. *

Antonyms slowness*, tardiness*, dilatoriness. See syn. study at haste.haste.

speed Synonyms

speed

v.

  1. To move rapidly

    race, rush, hurry, go fast, ride hard, put on sail, go like the wind*, cut along*, crowd sail, bowl along*, cover ground*, gun the motor*, give her the gas*, go all out*, gear up*, go it*, break the sound barrier*; see also race 1.

  2. To promote

    expedite, advance, further; see promote 1.

speed Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • knot: Due to the vessel's maximum cruising speed of 35 knots, the trip last just 22 minutes.
  • mph: A moped has a maximum engine size of 50cc, with a maximum design speed of 30 mph.

Preposition: in

  • excess: Generally data transmission speeds in excess of 1 Mbps.

Adjective modifier

  • maximum: These movies can have a maximum speed of 60 frames per minute.
  • slow: Chop the 2nd tomato into bite size pieces at slow speed stirring with the tamper.
  • breakneck: Wind of ashes The early stanzas establish their breakneck speed through the device of their length.
  • average: The cameras measure drivers ' average speed through a stretch of the motorway that is being resurfaced.
  • high: At high speed, the rushing air tends to create a partial vacuum inside the tube.
  • excessive: They seek a specific cause for each accident - driver's error, excessive speed, drunkenness, faulty brakes, bad road surface.

Modifies a noun

  • limit: He'll be wanting to set speed limits next.
  • camera: Do I mentally wish them toward the speed cameras?
  • dating: Events will be for 23-35, 30-40 and 36-50 years. www.pressbox.co.uk Manchester Speed Dating.
  • hump: Cutting a longer slot in the socket end of the coupling solved the speed hump problem.
  • restriction: Speed restrictions were also put in place on the M1.

Noun used with modifier

  • shutter: Night Scene mode synchronizes the flash with a slow shutter speed to properly expose subjects against a backdrop of city lights or sunset sky.
  • wind: Sources are provided of extreme wind speed data in other countries.
  • mph: The DfT's expectation is that 30 mph speed limits will apply on all roads that pass through villages.
  • upload: Our clients have also benefited from our PureFluid technology by bonding multiple ADSL Leased Lines together to deliver significantly increased upload speeds.
  • lightning: They are designed to clasp hair shafts and can move at lightning speeds when crawling through the hair.
  • download: Your download speed is determined by what type of line you buy.
speed Quotes

We sing the love of danger.Courage, rashness, and rebellion are the elements of our poetry. Hitherto literature has tended to exalt thoughtful immobility, ecstasy, and sleep, whereas we are for aggressive movement, febrile insomnia, mortal leaps, and blows with the fist.We proclaim that the world is richer for a new beautyof speed, and our praise isfor themanat the wheel. There is no beauty now save in struggle, no masterpiece can be anything but aggressive, and hence we glorify war, militarism and patriotism.

—Marinetti, Emilio FilippoTomasso

We affirm that the world's magnificence has been enriched bya new beauty: the beautyof speed. A racing car whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breathöa roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot ismore beautiful than theVictory of Samothrace.

—Marinetti, Emilio FilippoTomasso

Oxus, forgetting the bright speed he had In his high mountain cradle in Pamere, A foiled circuitous wandererötill at last The longed-for dash of waves is heard, and wide His luminous home of waters opens, bright And tranquil, from whose floor the new-bathed stars Emerge, and shine upon the Aral Sea.

—Arnold, Matthew

Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead.

—Farragut, David Glasgow

TheThird Fleet's sunken and damaged ships have been salvaged and are retiring at high speed toward the enemy.

—Halsey,W(illiam) F(rederick) known as  'Bull' Halsey

Out of the debris of a statue thoroughly shattered a new art work is born: a naked foot unforgettably resting on a stone; a candid hand; a bent knee which contains all the speed of the foot race; a torso which has no face to prevent us from loving it.

—Crayencour

   It was the same world then as nowöthe same, Except for little differences of speed And power, and means to treat myopia To show an axe-blade infinitely sharp Splitting things infinitely small.

—Pratt, EdwinJohn

She was an Amazon. Her whole life was spent riding at breakneck speed towards the wilder shores of love.

—Blanch, Lesley

In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed.

—Emerson, RalphWaldo

There was a young lady named Bright Whose speed was far faster than light; She set out one day In a relative way And returned on the previous night.

—Buller, A(rthur) H(enry) Reginald

Alun's life was coming to consist more and more exclusively of being told at dictation speed what he knew.

—Amis, Sir Kingsley

Nay, good sir, be not so violent; with speed I cannot render satisfaction Unto the dear companion of my soul, Virginity, whom I thus long have lived with, And part with it so rude and suddenly. Can such friends divide, never to meet again, Without a solemn farewell?

—Middleton,Thomas