acceleration - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ac·cel·er·a·tion

Audio Help [ak-sel-uh-rey-shuh

n] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the act of accelerating; increase of speed or velocity.

2.	a change in velocity.

3.	Mechanics. the time rate of change of velocity with respect to magnitude or direction; the derivative of velocity with respect to time.

[Origin: 1525–35; < L accelerātiōn- (s. of accelerātiō). See accelerate, -ion

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
acceleration

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ac·cel·er·a·tion Audio Help (āk-sěl'ə-rā'shən) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. The act of accelerating.
2. The process of being accelerated.
Abbr. a Physics The rate of change of velocity with respect to time.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

acceleration
noun
1.	an increase in rate of change; "modern science caused an acceleration of cultural change" [ant: deceleration]
2.	the act of accelerating; increasing the speed [ant: deceleration]
3.	(physics) a rate of increase of velocity [ant: deceleration]

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

acceleration Audio Help (āk-sěl'ə-rā'shən) Pronunciation Key
The rate of change of the velocity of a moving body. An increase in the magnitude of the velocity of a moving body (an increase in speed) is called a positive acceleration; a decrease in speed is called a negative acceleration. Acceleration, like velocity, is a vector quantity, so any change in the direction of a moving body is also an acceleration. A moving body that follows a curved path, even when its speed remains constant, is undergoing acceleration. See more at gravity , relativity.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
acceleration

A change in the velocity of an object.

Note: The most familiar kind of acceleration is a change in the speed of an object. An object that stays at the same speed but changes direction, however, is also being accelerated. (See force.)

[Chapter:] Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Acceleration

Ac*cel`er*a"tion\, n. [L. acceleratio: cf. F. acc['e]l['e]ration.] The act of accelerating, or the state of being accelerated; increase of motion or action; as, a falling body moves toward the earth with an acceleration of velocity; -- opposed to retardation.

A period of social improvement, or of intellectual advancement, contains within itself a principle of acceleration. --I. Taylor. (Astr. & Physics.)

Acceleration of the moon, the increase of the moon's mean motion in its orbit, in consequence of which its period of revolution is now shorter than in ancient times.

Acceleration and retardation of the tides. See Priming of the tides, under Priming.

Diurnal acceleration of the fixed stars, the amount by which their apparent diurnal motion exceeds that of the sun, in consequence of which they daily come to the meridian of any place about three minutes fifty-six seconds of solar time earlier than on the day preceding.

Acceleration of the planets, the increasing velocity of their motion, in proceeding from the apogee to the perigee of their orbits.

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