accelerate
v.v. to start moving faster or to make something happen more quickly. You use this when a car speeds up or when a project finishes sooner than expected.
v. to increase the speed or rate of an object or process. Transitive when causing an increase in speed; intransitive when the subject itself moves faster.
The car began to accelerate as it reached the highway.
The government decided to accelerate the vaccination program to protect more people before winter.
While the initial growth was slow, the company managed to accelerate its expansion once it secured international funding and streamlined its supply chain.
First attested in the 1520s. Either from Latin accelerātus, perfect passive participle of accelerō (“to accelerate, hasten”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), formed from ad + celerō (“to hasten”), which is from celer (“quick”) (see celerity), or back-formation from acceleration.
The verb is both transitive and intransitive. In physics contexts, it refers to any change in velocity, including direction.
The car accelerated its speedThe car acceleratedAccelerate already means to increase speed; adding 'its speed' is redundant.