speed
noun (RATE OF MOVEMENT) /spiːd/Definition
B1 [C or U] how fast something moves: He was travelling at a speed of 90 mph. The car has a top speed of 155 miles per hour. You should lower/reduce your speed as you approach a junction. On a clear, straight road you can gather/pick up speed. He came off the road while driving his car round a bend at high/breakneck speed (= very fast). There are speed restrictions (= controls on how fast traffic is allowed to move) on this part of the road. an electric drill with two speeds (= rates at which it turns)Speed of motion B2 [U] very fast movement: I get a real thrill from speed. He put on a sudden burst of speed. Both cars were travelling at speed (= very fast) when the accident happened.Speed of motion › [U] how fast something happens: We were surprised at the speed of the response to our enquiry. It was the speed at which it all happened that shocked me. She got through her work with speed (= quickly) and efficiency.Hurrying and doing things quicklyBusy and activeFast and rapidShort in time the speed of light/sound › the rate at which light or sound travels: The speed of light is 300 million metres per second. These planes travel at twice the speed of sound.Speed of motionThe engine and engine partsEngines and motors › [C] a gear noun: a bicycle with ten speeds a ten-speed bicycleBicyclesThe engine and engine partsEngines and motors › [C] the rate at which a photographic film absorbs or reacts to light: What speed film do I need for taking photographs indoors?Photography shutter speed › the length of time for which part of a camera is open to allow light to reach the film when a photograph is being taken: a high/low shutter speedPhotography
(Definition of speed noun (RATE OF MOVEMENT) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
Browse related topics
You are looking at an entry to do with Fast and rapid, but you might be interested in these topics from the Movement and location topic area:
- Advancing and moving forward
- Arrivals and departures
- Arriving, entering and invading
- Backwards, sideways and back and forth
- Bending, twisting and curving
- Boarding and alighting from modes of transport
- Bouncing
- Changing direction
- Crossing and moving through
- Delivering and despatching
- Departing
- Describing movement towards
- Digging
- Direction of motion
- Down and downward
- Emitting and ejecting
- Evicting and forcing to leave
- Falling and dropping
- General words for movement
- Immobility
- Increasing and decreasing speed of motion
- Inserting and forcing things into other things
- Jumping
- Making short, sudden movements
- Messengers and people who deliver things
- Movement
- Movement of liquids
- Movement on or through water
- Movement through the air
- Moving a long way on foot
- Moving downwards
- Moving firmly on foot
- Moving gently on foot
- Moving in order to avoid contact
- Moving on your hands and legs or on your stomach
- Moving quickly
- Moving to avoid being seen
- Moving unsteadily or with difficulty
- Moving upwards
- Not holding the body upright
- Phrases telling people to go away
- Physical gestures of respect
- Places and locations
- Placing and positioning an object
- Pleasant and make-believe places
- Posture
- Pulling
- Pursuing
- Pushing and shoving
- Raising and lowering
- Reclining
- Removing and extracting
- Returning to a place
- Revolving, rotating and spinning
- Runaways and refugees
- Running away and escaping
- Shaking, swinging and vibrating
- Sitting and standing
- Slow and moving slowly
- Speed of motion
- Staying and remaining
- Stretching the body
- Taking someone somewhere or telling them the way
- Throwing
- Transferring and transporting objects
- Turning upside down
- Unpleasant places
- Up and upward
- Visiting
- Walking and walkers
Browse the Dictionary
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speed camera noun
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speed dating noun
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speed dial noun
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speed limit noun
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speed noun (DRUG)
- speed noun (RATE OF MOVEMENT)
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speed skating noun
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speed trap noun
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speed verb
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speed-up noun
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speedboat noun
Browse the Thesaurus
More Results for “speed”
SMART Thesaurus
Synonyms and related words:
- a mile a minute idiom
- apace adverb
- as fast as your legs would carry you idiom
- as if it is going out of style idiom
- at a rate of knots idiom
- fleet adjective
- hell for leather idiom
- helter-skelter adverb
- high-speed adjective
- hotfoot adverb
- hustle verb (PUSH)
- in the twinkling of an eye idiom
- posthaste adverb
- prompt adjective
- promptly adverb
- quick-fire adjective
- quickly adverb
- rapid adjective
- spanking adjective
- supersonic adjective
Topic:
Fast and rapid
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