accelerate

Compared meaning: to become or make faster (verb).

比较义项：加快、加速（动词）。

• speed

  Describes moving fast, often with a direction or place; frequently used for vehicles and can imply excessive or dangerous speed, as in a driver getting a speeding ticket.

  表示快速移动，常与方向或地点搭配；多用于车辆，还可能暗示超速或危险驾驶，比如司机因超速被罚。

  The cyclist sped down the hill, weaving quickly through the morning traffic.

  那位骑车人飞快地冲下山坡，在早晨的车流中快速穿行。

• accelerate 本词

  A neutral, often technical verb for increasing speed from a slower state, common for vehicles, engines, and processes; frequently followed by details like a rate or destination speed.

  是中性、较为技术性的用词，指从较慢状态提速，常用于车辆、引擎或抽象过程，后面常跟具体的速率或目标速度。

  The train accelerated steadily as it left the station, gaining speed each second.

  火车驶离车站后平稳加速，速度每秒都在提升。

• quicken

  A more literary word for gradually becoming or making faster, typically describing natural rhythms like heartbeat, breathing, or footsteps rather than machines or vehicles.

  是较为文学化的用词，指逐渐变快或使变快，通常用于心跳、呼吸、脚步等自然节奏，而非机器或车辆。

  His breathing quickened as he climbed the last steep section of the trail.

  他爬上小径最陡的最后一段时，呼吸变得急促起来。

All three mean to become or make faster. Speed is informal, for fast forward movement. Accelerate is neutral and technical, for vehicles, engines, or processes speeding up. Quicken is literary, for natural rhythms like heartbeat or footsteps. Speed's noun sense, velocity, is not compared here.

这三个词都表示变快或加快，但语气和使用场合不同：speed强调快速向前移动这一动作，语气较口语化，常隐含超速或匆忙；accelerate是中性、技术性的说法，常用于车辆、引擎或抽象过程从慢变快；quicken语气更文学化，多用于心跳、呼吸、脚步等自然节奏的逐渐加快。此处不比较speed作为名词表示速度的用法。