speed

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noun

ADJECTIVE

▪ amazing, astonishing, breakneck, fast, good, great, high, incredible, lightning, phenomenal, remarkable, startling, surprising, terrific (esp. BrE)

▪

The new houses have been built with astonishing speed.

▪

He drove us to the hospital at breakneck speed.

▪ low, slow

▪ full, maximum, top, warp (informal, humorous, esp. AmE)

▪

Business is moving at warp speed.

▪ excess

▪

90% of car accidents involve excess speed.

▪ constant, steady

▪ average, normal

▪ increased

▪ operating, processing, processor, running

▪

the increase in processor speeds for home computers

▪

The machinery is regulated to a safe running speed.

▪ broadband, connection, download

▪

We offer subscribers a download speed of 8 MB.

▪ cruising, flying

▪ supersonic

▪

jets flying at supersonic speed

▪ traffic (esp. BrE), etc.

▪ air, wind

▪ engine

▪ shutter

▪

The camera will choose a fast shutter speed.

… OF SPEED

▪ burst

▪

The Kenyan runner put on a sudden burst of speed over the last 50 yards.

▪ rate (AmE)

▪

He was traveling at a high rate of speed.

VERB + SPEED

▪ attain, reach

▪

The car reaches a speed of 60 miles per hour within five seconds.

▪ build up, gain, gather, increase, pick up

▪

The train pulled out of the station, slowly gathering speed.

▪ lose

▪ kill, reduce

▪

Motorists are asked to reduce their speed in wet conditions.

▪ maintain

▪

The boat maintained a steady speed while the sea was calm.

▪ move at, run at, travel at

▪

The glacier moves at an average speed of about six feet per day.

▪

Radio waves travel at the speed of light.

▪ measure

SPEED + VERB

▪ increase

▪ decrease

SPEED + NOUN

▪ control, reduction, restriction (esp. BrE)

▪ record

▪

He set a new land speed record in this car.

▪ bump (esp. AmE), hump (BrE)

▪ camera (BrE), trap

PREPOSITION

▪ at speed (= fast)

▪

The car was moving at speed when the accident happened.

▪

at lightning speed

▪ in speed

▪

a significant increase in speed

▪ with speed

▪

Hedgehogs, though small, can move with surprising speed.

▪ speed of

▪

The ships have a maximum speed of 18 knots.

PHRASES

▪ at full speed, full speed

▪

He was running at full speed when a tendon snapped in his leg.

▪ full speed ahead

▪

The boat can be brought to a stop from full speed ahead within her own length.

▪ the speed of light, the speed of sound

▪

Concorde crossed the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound.

▪ a turn of speed (BrE)

▪

For a small car it has a good turn of speed.

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verb

Speed is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑traffic, ↑train

Speed is used with these nouns as the object: ↑delivery, ↑recovery