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12 dictionary results for: speed
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
speed       [speed] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, sped or speed·ed, speed·ing.
–noun
1.rapidity in moving, going, traveling, proceeding, or performing; swiftness; celerity: the speed of light; the speed of sound.
2.relative rapidity in moving, going, etc.; rate of motion or progress: full speed ahead.
3.full, maximum, or optimum rate of motion: The car gets to speed in just nine seconds.
4.Automotive. a transmission gear ratio.
5.Photography.
a.Also called film speed. the sensitivity of a film or paper to light, measured by an ASA or DIN index, which assigns low numbers to slow film and higher numbers to faster film.
b.Also called shutter speed. the length of time a shutter is opened to expose film.
c.the largest opening at which a lens can be used.
6.Slang. a stimulating drug, as caffeine, ephedrine, or esp. methamphetamine or amphetamine.
7.Informal. a person or thing that is compatible with or typical of one's ability, personality, desires, etc.: My speed is writing postcards on the porch while everyone else is tearing around the tennis court.
8.Archaic. success or prosperity.
–verb (used with object)
9.to promote the success of (an affair, undertaking, etc.); further, forward, or expedite.
10.to direct (the steps, course, way, etc.) with speed.
11.to increase the rate of speed of (usually fol. by up): to speed up industrial production.
12.to bring to a particular speed, as a machine.
13.to cause to move, go, or proceed with speed.
14.to expedite the going of: to speed the parting guest.
15.Archaic. to cause to succeed or prosper.
–verb (used without object)
16.to move, go, pass, or proceed with speed or rapidity.
17.to drive a vehicle at a rate that exceeds the legally established maximum: He was arrested for speeding.
18.to increase the rate of speed or progress (usually fol. by up).
19.to get on or fare in a specified or particular manner.
20.Archaic. to succeed or prosper.
—Idioms
21.at full or top speed,
a.at the greatest speed possible: We drove down the highway at full speed.
b.to the maximum of one's capabilities; with great rapidity: He worked at full speed.
22.up to speed,
a.operating at full or optimum speed.
b.functioning or producing at an expected, acceptable, or competitive level; up to par: a new firm not yet up to speed.
[Origin: bef. 900; 1965–70 for def. 6; (n.) ME spede good luck, prosperity, rapidity, OE spéd; c. D spoed, OHG spōt; akin to OE spōwan to prosper, succeed; (v.) ME speden to succeed, prosper, go with speed, OE spédan to succeed, prosper; c. OS spōdian, OHG spuoten]

—Related forms
speedful, adjective
speed·ful·ly, adverb
speed·ful·ness, noun
speed·ing·ly, adverb
speed·ing·ness, noun
speedless, adjective

—Synonyms 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.
—Antonyms 1. slowness.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
speed       (spēd)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. Physics The rate or a measure of the rate of motion, especially:
    1. Distance traveled divided by the time of travel.
    2. The limit of this quotient as the time of travel becomes vanishingly small; the first derivative of distance with respect to time.
    3. The magnitude of a velocity.
    4. The act of moving rapidly.
    5. The state of being in rapid motion; rapidity.
    6. A numerical expression of the sensitivity of a photographic film, plate, or paper to light.
    7. The capacity of a lens to accumulate light at an appropriate aperture.
    8. The length of time required or permitted for a camera shutter to open and admit light.
  2. Swiftness of action.
    1. The act of moving rapidly.
    2. The state of being in rapid motion; rapidity.
    3. A numerical expression of the sensitivity of a photographic film, plate, or paper to light.
    4. The capacity of a lens to accumulate light at an appropriate aperture.
    5. The length of time required or permitted for a camera shutter to open and admit light.
  4. A transmission gear or set of gears in a motor vehicle.
    1. A numerical expression of the sensitivity of a photographic film, plate, or paper to light.
    2. The capacity of a lens to accumulate light at an appropriate aperture.
    3. The length of time required or permitted for a camera shutter to open and admit light.
  6. Slang A stimulant drug, especially amphetamine or methamphetamine.
  7. Slang One that suits or appeals to a person's inclinations, skills, or character: Living in a large city is not my speed.
  8. Archaic Prosperity; luck.

v.   sped (spěd) or speed·ed, speed·ing, speeds

v.   tr.
  1. To cause to go, move, or proceed quickly; hasten.
  2. To increase the speed or rate of; accelerate: speed up a car; sped production.
  3. To wish Godspeed to.
  4. To further, promote, or expedite (a legal action, for example).
  5. Archaic To help to succeed or prosper; aid.

v.   intr.
    1. To go, move, or proceed quickly: sped to the rescue.
    2. To drive at a speed exceeding a legal limit: was speeding on the freeway.
    3. To prove successful; prosper.
    4. To get along in a specified manner; fare.
  2. To pass quickly: The days sped by. The months have sped along.
  3. To move, work, or happen at a faster rate; accelerate: His pulse speeded up.
  4. Archaic
    1. To prove successful; prosper.
    2. To get along in a specified manner; fare.


[Middle English spede, from Old English spēd, success, swiftness; see spē- in Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: These verbs mean to proceed or cause to proceed rapidly or more rapidly. Speed refers to swift motion or action: The train sped through the countryside. Postal workers labored overtime to speed delivery of the holiday mail.
Hurry implies a markedly faster rate than usual, often with concomitant confusion or commotion: Hurry, or you'll miss the plane! Don't let anyone hurry you into making a decision.
Hasten suggests urgency and often eager or rash swiftness: My doctor hastened to reassure me that the tests were negative. His off-color jokes only hastened his dismissal.
Quicken and especially accelerate refer to increase in rate of activity, growth, or progress: The skater's breathing quickened as he neared the end of his routine. The runner quickened her pace as she drew near the finish line. The economic expansion has continued but is no longer accelerating. Heat greatly accelerates the deterioration of perishable foods.
Precipitate implies causing something to happen abruptly or prematurely: Mention of the issue precipitated an angry outburst during the meeting. See Also Synonyms at haste.

Word History: We learn from the fable of the tortoise and the hare that the race is not always to the swift, but etymology teaches us that speed and success are closely related. The Old English word spēd, from which our word speed is descended, originally meant "prosperity, successful outcome, ability, or quickness." A corresponding verb, spēdan, in Modern English the verb speed, meant "to succeed, prosper, or achieve a goal"; and an adjective, spēdig, the ancestor of our word speedy, meant "wealthy, powerful." Except for archaic uses the words today relate only to the general sense of "velocity." The meaning "success" is retained chiefly in the compound Godspeed, a noun formed from the phrase meaning "May God cause you to prosper."

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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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
speed  (n.)
O.E. sped "success, prosperity, advancement," from P.Gmc. *spodiz (cf. O.S. spod "success," Du. spoed "haste, speed," O.H.G. spuot "success," O.S. spodian "to cause to succeed," M.Du. spoeden, O.H.G. spuoten "to haste"), from PIE *spo-ti- "speed," from *spe- "to thrive, prosper" (cf. Skt. sphayate "increases," L. sperare "to hope," O.C.S. spechu "endeavor," Lith. speju "to have leisure"). Meaning "quickness of motion or progress" emerged in late O.E. (usually adverbially, in dative plural, e.g. spedum feran), emerging fully in early M.E. Meaning "gear of a machine" is attested from 1866. Meaning "methamphetamine, or a related drug," first attested 1967, from its effect on users. Speeder "one who drives fast" is recorded from 1891. Speedometer is from 1904, a hybrid coined with Gk. -metron; speed bump is 1975; figurative sense is 1990s. Full speed is recorded from 1382. Speed reading first attested 1965. Speedball "mix of cocaine and morphine or heroin" is recorded from 1909.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
speed  (v.)
O.E. spedan "to succeed, prosper, advance" (see speed (n.)). Meaning "to go fast" is attested from c.1300. Meaning "To send forth with quickness" is first recorded 1569; that of "to increase the work rate of" (usually with up) is from 1856.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
speed

noun
1. distance travelled per unit time 
2. a rate (usually rapid) at which something happens; "the project advanced with gratifying speed" 
3. changing location rapidly 
4. the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of a (camera) lens system [syn: focal ratio] 
5. a central nervous system stimulant that increases energy and decreases appetite; used to treat narcolepsy and some forms of depression [syn: amphetamine] 

verb
1. move fast; "He rushed down the hall to receive his guests"; "The cars raced down the street" [ant: dawdle] 
2. move faster; "The car accelerated" [syn: accelerate] [ant: decelerate] 
3. move very fast; "The runner zipped past us at breakneck speed" [syn: travel rapidly] 
4. travel at an excessive or illegal velocity; "I got a ticket for speeding" 
5. cause to move faster; "He accelerated the car" [syn: accelerate] [ant: decelerate] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

speed

In addition to the idiom beginning with speed, also see full speed ahead; up to par (speed).


The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
speed       (spēd)  Pronunciation Key 
The ratio of the distance traveled by an object (regardless of its direction) to the time required to travel that distance. Compare velocity.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

SPEED
Early system on LGP-30. Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959).

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Speed, IN Zip code(s): 47172

Speed, KS (city, FIPS 67175) Location: 39.67633 N, 99.42025 W
Population (1990): 64 (27 housing units)
Area: 0.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Speed, NC (town, FIPS 63720) Location: 35.96831 N, 77.44426 W
Population (1990): 88 (34 housing units)
Area: 0.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Speed

Speed\, n. [AS. sp?d success, swiftness, from sp?wan to succeed; akin to D. spoedd, OHG. spuot success, spuot to succees, Skr. sph[=a] to increase, grow fat. [root]170b.]

1. Prosperity in an undertaking; favorable issue; success. "For common speed." --Chaucer.

O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day. --Gen. xxiv. 12.

2. The act or state of moving swiftly; swiftness; velocity; rapidly; rate of motion; dispatch; as, the speed a horse or a vessel.

Speed, to describe whose swiftness number fails. --Milton.

Note: In kinematics, speedis sometimes used to denote the amount of velocity without regard to direction of motion, while velocity is not regarded as known unless both the direction and the amount are known.

3. One who, or that which, causes or promotes speed or success. [Obs.] "Hercules be thy speed!" --Shak.

God speed, Good speed; prosperity. See Godspeed.

Speed gauge, Speed indicator, & Speed recorder (Mach.), devices for indicating or recording the rate of a body's motion, as the number of revolutions of a shaft in a given time.

Speed lathe (Mach.), a power lathe with a rapidly revolving spindle, for turning small objects, for polishing, etc.; a hand lathe.

Speed pulley, a cone pulley with steps.

Syn: Haste; swiftness; celerity; quickness; dispatch; expedition; hurry; acceleration. See Haste.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Speed

Speed\ (sp[=e]d), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sped (sp[e^]d), Speeded; p. pr. & vb. n. Speeding.] [AS. sp[=e]dan, fr. sp[=e]d, n.; akin to D. spoeden, G. sich sputen. See Speed, n.]

1. To go; to fare. [Obs.]

To warn him now he is too farre sped. --Remedy of Love.

2. To experience in going; to have any condition, good or ill; to fare. --Shak.

Ships heretofore in seas like fishes sped; The mightiest still upon the smallest fed. --Waller.

3. To fare well; to have success; to prosper.

Save London, and send true lawyers their meed! For whoso wants money with them shall not speed! --Lydgate.

I told ye then he should prevail, and speed On his bad errand. --Milton.

4. To make haste; to move with celerity.

I have speeded hither with the very extremest inch of possibility. --Shak.

5. To be expedient. [Obs.] --Wyclif (2 Cor. xii. 1.)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Speed

Speed\, v. t. 1. To cause to be successful, or to prosper; hence, to aid; to favor. "Fortune speed us!" --Shak.

With rising gales that speed their happy flight. --Dryden.

2. To cause to make haste; to dispatch with celerity; to drive at full speed; hence, to hasten; to hurry.

He sped him thence home to his habitation. --Fairfax.

3. To hasten to a conclusion; to expedite.

Judicial acts . . . are sped in open court at the instance of one or both of the parties. --Ayliffe.

4. To hurry to destruction; to put an end to; to ruin; to undo. "Sped with spavins." --Shak.

A dire dilemma! either way I 'm sped. If foes, they write, if friends, they read, me dead. --Pope.

5. To wish success or god fortune to, in any undertaking, especially in setting out upon a journey.

Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest. --Pope.

God speed you, them, etc., may God speed you; or, may you have good speed.

Syn: To dispatch; hasten; expedite; accelerate; hurry.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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