speed

Compared meaning: to move or act very fast (verb).

比较义项：快速行动或移动（动词）。

• hurry

  Emphasizes urgency from limited time; usually intransitive, meaning someone moves or acts faster themselves, or causative, meaning to make someone else move faster; not primarily about physical velocity.

  强调因时间紧迫而需要加快行动；通常作不及物动词，表示某人自己加快动作或移动，也可作使役动词表示让别人快一点；并不主要指实际的物理速度。

  You'd better hurry, or you'll miss the last train tonight.

  你最好快点，不然今晚就赶不上末班火车了。

• speed 本词

  Focuses on the actual rate of motion, especially of vehicles; fairly neutral or formal in tone, and can imply moving too fast, as in illegal speeding.

  侧重实际移动的速度，尤其用于交通工具；语气较为中性或正式，有时暗示速度过快，比如违规超速。

  The ambulance sped through the empty streets to reach the hospital.

  救护车飞速穿过空荡的街道，赶往医院。

• zip

  An informal, vivid word for moving very fast, often suddenly or briefly; used of people, vehicles or objects darting past, with a livelier tone than speed.

  非正式且生动的说法，指移动得非常快，常带有突然或短暂的意味；可用于人、车辆或物体一闪而过，语气比 speed 更活泼。

  The motorcycle zipped past us before we even saw it coming.

  摩托车嗖地一下从我们身边飞驰而过，我们都还没看清。

Hurry, speed, and zip all mean to move fast. Hurry stresses urgency from limited time. Speed means actual movement speed, often of vehicles. Zip is informal for a sudden, quick movement. Not compared: zip as a zipper, speed as a noun.

这三个词都表示“快速地行动或移动”，但语气和用法不同：hurry 强调因时间紧迫而加快动作，常作不及物动词表示自己动作快一点，也可作使役动词表示催促别人；speed 侧重实际移动速度快，多用于车辆，语气中性偏正式，有时暗示超速；zip 是非正式说法，强调突然、迅疾地移动，语气更生动随意。这里不比较 zip 表示“拉拉链”的义项，也不比较 speed 作名词表示“速度”的用法。

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

比较义项：加快、加速（动词）。

• speed 本词

  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

  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。