hit the accelerator

verb

Synonym of hit the gas.

Similar
hit the gas
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Meanings

verbhit the accelerator (third-person singular simple present hits the accelerator, present participle hitting the accelerator, simple past and past participle hit the accelerator)

present singular third person hits the accelerator · participle present hitting the accelerator

  1. idiomaticSynonym of hit the gas.

    If Frey is right about the technology trap then this may also imply that China could leap ahead in the AI arms race. Sensitive to voter interests, western democracies may yet touch the brakes when it comes to mass deployment of AI technology, while authoritarian regimes hit the accelerator hard.

    2019 July 11, John Thornhill, “Does tech threaten to rerun the worst of the Industrial Revolution?”, in Financial Times

    Synonyms: hit the gas

Synonyms & antonyms

verbSynonym of hit the gas.

Similar
hit the gas
Also see
hit the gas
Cite this entry
APA

hit the accelerator. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hit%20the%20accelerator

MLA

“hit the accelerator.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hit%20the%20accelerator. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hit the accelerator,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hit%20the%20accelerator.

Source: hit the accelerator on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.