outpace
/aut'peis/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Transitive Verb:
- To surpass in speed; to go faster than: The primary meaning of "outpace" is to move or progress at a faster rate than someone or something else, thereby leaving them behind.
- To exceed or outstrip in progress or development: It can also describe exceeding something in terms of growth, advancement, or rate of change, not just physical speed.
Usage and Examples
Basic Usage (Physical Speed):
- The cheetah can easily outpace most other land animals. (The cheetah runs faster than most other land animals.)
- The new electric sports car outpaced all its competitors on the track. (The new car was faster than all the other cars racing.)
Usage (Rate of Growth/Progress):
- Demand for the product is outpacing our ability to manufacture it. (Demand is growing faster than our production capacity.)
- In many cities, rent increases have outpaced wage growth. (Rents have risen more quickly than wages.)
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- "Outpace" in Economic/Technological Contexts: Often used to discuss comparative rates of change.
- Technological innovation continues to outpace regulatory frameworks. (Technology advances faster than the laws meant to govern it.)
- Implied Competition or Comparison: The word often carries an implicit sense of a race or competition, even if not stated.
- She outpaced every other student in the reading program. (She progressed through the material faster than all other students.)
Variants and Related Words
- Outpaced (past tense/participle): The simple past and past participle form.
- The company's revenue growth outpaced industry averages last year.
- Outpacing (present participle/gerund): The form.
- The virus is outpacing containment efforts.
- Pace (noun/verb): The root word meaning speed or rate of movement.
- He set a fast pace for the hike. (He established a fast speed.)
- She paced the room nervously. (She walked back and forth.)
Synonyms
- Outrun: To run faster than (often more literal/physical).
- Outstrip: To exceed or surpass, especially in a race or competition.
- Surpass: To go beyond in amount, quality, or degree; a broader term.
- Eclipse: To surpass or outshine, often making something else seem less significant.
Antonyms
- Lag behind: To fail to keep pace; to fall behind.
- Trail: To be behind in a race or competition.
Related Phrases and Concepts
- Leave in the dust: (Idiom) To outpace someone so decisively they are far behind, as if covered in dust.
- Their new software update left the competition in the dust.
- Gain on: To reduce the distance between oneself and a target ahead; the opposite of outpacing.
- The pursuing car was gaining on the leader. (It was getting closer, not outpacing it.)
Verb
- surpass in speed
- Malthus believed that population increase would outpace increases in the means of subsistence