speed
[ speed ]
/ spid /
noun
verb (used with object), sped or speed·ed, speed·ing.
verb (used without object), sped or speed·ed, speed·ing.
Idioms for speed
- at the greatest speed possible: We drove down the highway at full speed.
- to the maximum of one's capabilities; with great rapidity: He worked at full speed.
- operating at full or optimum speed.
- functioning or producing at an expected, acceptable, or competitive level; up to par: a new firm not yet up to speed.
at full/top speed,
up to speed,
Origin of speed
before 900; 1965–70
for def 6; (noun) Middle English
spede good luck, prosperity, rapidity, Old English
spēd; cognate with Dutch
spoed, Old High German
spōt; akin to Old English
spōwan to prosper, succeed; (v.) Middle English
speden to succeed, prosper, go with speed, Old English
spēdan to succeed, prosper; cognate with Old Saxon
spōdian, Old High German
spuoten
SYNONYMS FOR speed
1, 2
fleetness,
alacrity,
dispatch,
expedition;
hurry.
Speed,
velocity,
quickness,
rapidity,
celerity,
haste refer to swift or energetic movement or operation.
Speed (originally prosperity or success) may apply to human or nonhuman activity and emphasizes the rate in time at which something travels or operates:
the speed of light, of a lens, of an automobile, of thought.
Velocity, a more learned or technical term, is sometimes interchangeable with
speed :
the velocity of light; it is commonly used to refer to high rates of speed, linear or circular:
velocity of a projectile.
Quickness, a native word, and
rapidity, a synonym of Latin origin, suggest speed of movement or operation on a small or subordinate scale;
quickness applies more to people (
quickness of mind, of perception, of bodily movement ),
rapidity more to things, often in a technical or mechanical context:
the rapidity of moving parts; a lens of great rapidity.
Celerity, a somewhat literary synonym of Latin origin, refers usually to human movement or operation and emphasizes expedition, dispatch, or economy in an activity:
the celerity of his response.
Haste refers to the energetic activity of human beings under stress; it often suggests lack of opportunity for care or thought:
to marry in haste; a report prepared in haste.
9 advance, favor.
11 accelerate.
16 See
rush1.
OTHER WORDS FROM speed
Words nearby speed
Example sentences from the Web for speed
British Dictionary definitions for speed
speed
/ (spiːd) /
noun
verb speeds, speeding, sped or speeded
See also
speed up
Derived forms of speed
speeder, nounWord Origin for speed
Old English
spēd (originally in the sense: success); related to
spōwan to succeed, Latin
spēs hope, Old Slavonic
spěti to be lucky
Scientific definitions for speed
speed
[ spēd ]
The ratio of the distance traveled by an object (regardless of its direction) to the time required to travel that distance. Compare velocity.
Idioms and Phrases with speed
speed