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Definition of speed verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

speed

verb
 
/spiːd/
 
/spiːd/
In senses 1 and 2 sped
 
/sped/
 
/sped/
is also used for the past tense and past participle.
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they speed
 
/spiːd/
 
/spiːd/
he / she / it speeds
 
/spiːdz/
 
/spiːdz/
past simple speeded
 
/ˈspiːdɪd/
 
/ˈspiːdɪd/
past participle speeded
 
/ˈspiːdɪd/
 
/ˈspiːdɪd/
-ing form speeding
 
/ˈspiːdɪŋ/
 
/ˈspiːdɪŋ/
Phrasal Verbs
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    move/happen quickly

  1. [intransitive] + adv./prep. to move along quickly
    • They sped off to get help.
    • The car sped along the road towards the village.
    • He sped away on his bike.
    • the sound of a motorcycle speeding down the street
    • We turned and watched a train speeding by.
    Extra Examples
    • He couldn't hear the car that was speeding towards him.
    • I sped back to her house as fast as I could, but she had already gone.
  2. [transitive] speed somebody/something + adv./prep. (formal) to take somebody/something somewhere very quickly, especially in a vehicle
    • The cab speeded them into the centre of the city.
  3. [transitive] speed something (formal) to make something happen more quickly
    • The drugs will speed her recovery.
    • More is needed to speed the development of a safe and effective vaccine.
  4. drive too fast

  5. [intransitive] (usually used in the progressive tenses) to drive faster than the speed that is legally allowed
    • The police caught him speeding.
    • Accident investigators said evidence appeared to suggest that he was not speeding.
    • Most drivers speed, at least occasionally.
    • Speeding motorists are a danger to others.
    Topics Crime and punishmentb2
  6. Word OriginOld English spēd (noun), spēdan (verb), from the Germanic base of Old English spōwan ‘prosper, succeed’, a sense reflected in early usage.
See speed in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee speed in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
previously
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 3000
B1
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