speed-up

[ speed-uhp ]

noun

1. an increasing of speed.
2. an imposed increase in the rate of production of a worker without a corresponding increase in the rate of pay.

speed up

verb

1. to increase or cause to increase in speed or rate; accelerate

noun

1. an instance of this; acceleration

Usage

The past tense and past participle of speed up is speeded up , not sped up

Word History and Origins

Origin of speed-up¹

First recorded in 1920–25; noun use of verb phrase speed up

Idioms and Phrases

Accelerate, expedite, increase the rate, as in The car speeded up as it went downhill , or It's difficult to speed up production without new equipment . [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

That’s a negligible difference, Gross said, and means that films don’t need to be held — or sped up — before they’re ready.

From Los Angeles Times

Prior to the election, Bluestein told Salon that he hoped the addition of new ballot-counting machines would speed up the time it takes Philadelphia to count votes and possibly stop claims of fraud from spreading.

From Salon

By cutting out the need to constantly refresh the website, it will reduce the load on the ticketing system and may even speed up the process for users.

From BBC

The government could miss its own cladding removal completion date if progress is not made to speed up the process, the UK's spending watchdog has said.

From BBC

In early August, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an order to speed up the process of removing voters from the rolls who were flagged as possible noncitizens in state databases.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abate
• allay
• ameliorate
• calm
• expedite
• facilitate
• further
• improve
• lessen
• lift
• mitigate
• moderate
• promote
• relax
• relieve
• simplify
• soften
• soothe
• speed