speed up

present singular third person speeds up · participle present speeding up · participle past speeded up · past speeded up · participle past sped up · past sped up

1. idiomaticintransitiveTo accelerate; to increase speed.

   The car sped up as it went around the corner.

   Synonyms: pick up speed · Antonyms: hold up, let up, slow, slow down, slow up

2. transitiveTo accelerate (something): to increase its speed, to make it go faster.

   You shouldn't speed up your car when you go around corners.

   4 more examples

   More fast trains between England and Scotland, and additional "car-sleeper" overnight services for motorists, are important features of British Railways summer timetables, which come into operation on June 17. In all, 98 long-distance trains will be speeded-up to save 10-75 min. and many will make non-stop runs at an average speed of 60 m.p.h. or more.

   1957 June 28, “Notes and News: B.R. Summer Passenger Services”, in Railway Magazine, page 433

   The through Moorgate service has been most handsomely speeded up, and suburban trains in both directions now run non-stop between Kings Cross (Underground) and Elstree.

   1960 February, “The dieselised St. Pancras suburban service”, in Trains Illustrated, page 95

   Work on anti-frost precautions on diesel locomotives is to be speeded up to ensure that most if not all locomotives have been dealt with before the winter sets in.

   1964 September, “Motive Power Miscellany: BR Workshops”, in Modern Railways, page 220

   HM Chief Inspector of Railways has stepped in to speed up work to resolve incidents of overspeeding, having been concerned that progress on the issue has been too slow.

   2026 February 18, David Stubbings, “ORR steps in to improve industry response to overspeed incidents”, in RAIL, number 1055, page 9

   Synonyms: smarten · Antonyms: hold up, slow, slow down