accelerator

plural accelerators

1. One who, or that which, accelerates.

   The Second World War is said to have been a great accelerator for many scientific findings.

2. A device for causing acceleration.
3. chemistryA substance which speeds up chemical reactions.
4. transportA pedal causing the vehicle to accelerate when it is pressed.

   As soon as you get onto the slipway, push the accelerator.

5. artsA chemical that reduces development time.
6. natural sciencesA device that accelerates charged subatomic particles; a particle accelerator.
7. medicineA muscle or nerve that speeds the performance of an action.
8. computingAn accelerator key.

   If they had allowed single-character accelerators, Windows wouldn't be able to determine whether the character was input or a shortcut.

   2002, Davis Howard Chapman, Sams Teach Yourself Visual C++ .NET in 21 Days, page 187

9. computingA computer component using dedicated hardware to accelerate the processing and display of graphics.
10. historicalA light van to take mails between a post office and a railway station.
11. businessA mentoring program for startup companies.

    In the nineties, before the accelerator era, startups were usually launched by mid-career engineers or repeat entrepreneurs, who sought millions in venture capital and then labored in secret on something complicated that took years to launch.

    2016 October 3, Tad Friend, “Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny”, in The New Yorker