speed up

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speed up (third-person singular simple present speeds up, present participle speeding up, simple past and past participle speeded up or sped up)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To accelerate; to increase speed.

   Synonym: pick up speed

   Antonyms: hold up, let up, slow, slow down, slow up

   Coordinate terms: hurry, rush

   The car sped up as it went around the corner.

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

   Antonyms: hold up, slow, slow down

   Coordinate terms: hurry, rush

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

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

     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.

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

     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.

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

     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.