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Length vs Speed - What's the difference?

length | speed |

As a noun length

is the distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.

As a verb length

is (obsolete) to lengthen.

As a proper noun speed is

.

length

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.
  • duration
  • * Robert Frost
  • Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length .
  • (horse racing) The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.
  • (mathematics) Distance between the two ends of a line segment.
  • (cricket) The distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its way to the batsman.
  • (figuratively) Total extent.
  • the length of a book
  • Part of something that is long; a physical piece of something.
  • a length of rope

    Derived terms

    * arm's length * at length * cable length * feature-length * floor-length * focal length * full-length * good length * go to great lengths * half-length * knee-length * lengthen * lengthful * length overall * lengthways * lengthwise * lengthy * line and length * null patch length * overlength * path length * screening length * short of a length * wavelength * zero-length launching

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To lengthen.
  • * 1599 , , XIV. 30:
  • Pack night, peep day; good day, of night now borrow: / Short night, to-night, and length thyself to-morrow.

    speed

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • the state of moving quickly or the capacity for rapid motion; rapidity
  • How does Usain Bolt run at that speed ?
  • the rate of motion or action, specifically (mathematics)/(physics) the magnitude of the velocity; the rate distance is traversed in a given time
  • (photography) the sensitivity to light of film, plates or sensor.
  • (photography) the duration of exposure, the time during which a camera shutter is open.
  • (photography) the largest size of the lens opening at which a lens can be used.
  • (photography) the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of a photographic objective.
  • (slang) any amphetamine drug used as a stimulant, especially illegally, especially methamphetamine
  • (archaic) luck, success, prosperity
  • * Bible, Genesis xxiv. 12
  • O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day.
    Synonyms
    * velocity
    Derived terms
    * lightspeed * speed bump * speed chess * speed camera * speed dating * speed demon * speed dial * speed freak * speedful * speed hump * speed limit * speed of light * speed of sound * speedometer * speed queen * speedread * speedrun * speed skating * speedway * speedy
    See also
    Units for measuring speed : metres/meters per second, , [[ft/sec and fps, miles per hour, mph ; mach (aeronautical)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) speden, from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • To succeed; to prosper, be lucky.
  • *:
  • *:And yf I maye fynde suche a knyghte that hath all these vertues / he may drawe oute this swerd oute of the shethe / for I haue ben at kyng Ryons / it was told me ther were passyng good knyghtes / and he and alle his knyghtes haue assayed it and none can spede
  • *, I.2.4.vii:
  • Aristotle must find out the motion of Euripus; Pliny must needs see Vesuvius; but how sped they? One loseth goods, another his life.
  • *18thc. , (Oliver Goldsmith), Introductory to Switzerland
  • *:At night returning, every labor sped , / He sits him down the monarch of a shed: / Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round surveys, / His children’s looks, that brighten at the blaze;
  • To help someone, to give them fortune; to aid or favour.
  • :
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Fortune speed us!
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • *:with rising gales that speed their happy flight
  • (label) To go fast.
  • :
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:I have speeded hither with the very extremest inch of possibility.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=10 citation , passage=With a little manœuvring they contrived to meet on the doorstep which was […] in a boiling stream of passers-by, hurrying business people speeding past in a flurry of fumes and dust in the bright haze.}}
  • (label) To exceed the speed limit.
  • :
  • (label) To increase the rate at which something occurs.
  • *1982 , Carole Offir & Carole Wade, Human sexuality, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, p.454:
  • *:It is possible that the uterine contractions speed the sperm along.
  • *2004 , James M. Cypher & James L. Dietz, The process of economic development, Routledge, p.359:
  • *:Such interventions can help to speed the process of reducing CBRs and help countries pass through the demographic transition threshold more quickly.
  • To be under the influence of stimulant drugs, especially amphetamines.
  • (label) To be expedient.
  • :
  • (label) To hurry to destruction; to put an end to; to ruin.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:sped with spavins
  • *(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • *:A dire dilemma! either way I'm sped . / If foes, they write, if friends, they read, me dead.
  • (label) To wish success or good fortune to, in any undertaking, especially in setting out upon a journey.
  • *(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • *:Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest.
  • To cause to make haste; to dispatch with celerity; to drive at full speed; hence, to hasten; to hurry.
  • *(Edward Fairfax) (c.1580-1635)
  • *:He sped him thence home to his habitation.
  • To hasten to a conclusion; to expedite.
  • *(John Ayliffe) (1676-1732)
  • *:Judicial actsare sped in open court at the instance of one or both of the parties.
  • Usage notes
    * The Cambridge Guide to English Usage'' indicates that ''sped'' is for objects in motion ''(the race car sped)'' while ''speeded is used for activities or processes, but notes that the British English convention does not hold in American English. * Garner's Modern American Usage'' (2009) indicates that ''speeded'' is incorrect, except in the phrasal verb, (speed up). Most American usage of ''speeded conforms to this. * Sped'' is about six times more common in American English (COCA) than ''speeded''. ''Sped is twice as common in UK English (BNC).
    Derived terms
    * speed up