Speed up

Pronunciation varies by accent · noun

Meaning

An amount or rate of decrease in time taken to do a certain amount of work..

Definitions by Sense

1. An amount or rate of decrease in time taken to do a certain amount of work.
2. (chiefly computing) The relationship between time taken and number of processors used.
3. (labour, politics) An employer's demand for more output without more pay.

Example Sentences

The results of this generalized speedup of the corporate metabolism are multiple: shorter product life cycles, more leasing and renting, more frequent buying and selling, more ephemeral consumption patterns, […]

There were, of course, those observers who argued that since in some industries 50 or 60 per cent of those employed were scientific, technical, and administrative staff, the employer would soon include them in his speedup plans.

For the mass of new workers who had not come out of a syndicalist or craft tradition, incentive pay and the speedup idea carried relatively little negative meaning.

The strike was over a speedup of the assembly line, which in the previous week had increased from 49 to 58 cars per hour. Out of this strike emerged the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM).

With constant speedup of the line and with the cold temperatures of the plant, one angry worker told me, “After ten years, people walk like they're sixty or seventy."

Synonyms for speed up

Antonyms for speed up

Related Words

Word Forms

• speedups
• speed-up

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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