Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

acad|emy ◆◇◇ /əkæ dəmi/ (academies )

1 N‑COUNT Academy is sometimes used in the names of secondary schools and colleges, or private high schools in the United States. □ [+ of ] …the Royal Academy of Music. □  …her experience as a police academy instructor.

2 N‑COUNT Academy appears in the names of some societies formed to improve or maintain standards in a particular field. □ [+ of ] …the American Academy of Psychotherapists.

ac|cede /æksiː d/ (accedes , acceding , acceded )

1 VERB If you accede to someone's request, you do what they ask. [FORMAL ] □ [V + to ] Britain would not accede to France's request.

2 VERB When a member of a royal family accedes to the throne, they become king or queen. [FORMAL ] [Also V ]

ac|cel|er|ate /ækse ləre I t/ (accelerates , accelerating , accelerated )

1 VERB If the process or rate of something accelerates or if something accelerates it, it gets faster and faster. □ [V ] Growth will accelerate to 2.9% next year. □ [V n] The government is to accelerate its privatisation programme.

2 VERB When a moving vehicle accelerates , it goes faster and faster. □ [V ] Suddenly the car accelerated. □ [V prep/adv] She accelerated away from us.

ac|cel|era|tion /ækse ləre I ʃ ^ə n/

1 N‑UNCOUNT The acceleration of a process or change is the fact that it is getting faster and faster. □ [+ of/in ] He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.

2 N‑UNCOUNT Acceleration is the rate at which a car or other vehicle can increase its speed, often seen in terms of the time that it takes to reach a particular speed. □  Acceleration to 60 mph takes a mere 5.7 seconds.

3 N‑UNCOUNT Acceleration is the rate at which the speed of an object increases. [TECHNICAL ]

ac|cel|era|tor /ækse ləre I tə ^r / (accelerators ) N‑COUNT The accelerator in a car or other vehicle is the pedal which you press with your foot in order to make the vehicle go faster. □  He eased his foot off the accelerator.

ac|cent /æ ks ^ə nt/ (accents )

1 N‑COUNT Someone who speaks with a particular accent pronounces the words of a language in a distinctive way that shows which country, region, or social class they come from. □  He had developed a slight American accent.

2 N‑COUNT An accent is a short line or other mark which is written above certain letters in some languages and which indicates the way those letters are pronounced.

3 N‑SING If you put the accent on a particular feature of something, you emphasize it or give it special importance. □ [+ on ] He is putting the accent on military readiness.

ac|cent|ed /æ ksent I d/

1 ADJ Language or speech that is accented is spoken with a particular accent. □  I spoke rather good, but heavily accented English.

2 → see also accent

ac|cen|tu|ate /ækse ntʃue I t/ (accentuates , accentuating , accentuated ) VERB To accentuate something means to emphasize it or make it more noticeable. □ [V n] His shaven head accentuates his large round face.

ac|cept ◆◆◆ /ækse pt/ (accepts , accepting , accepted )

1 VERB If you accept something that you have been offered, you say yes to it or agree to take it. □ [V n] Eventually Sam persuaded her to accept an offer of marriage. □ [V ] All those invited to next week's peace conference have accepted.

2 VERB If you accept an idea, statement, or fact, you believe that it is true or valid. □ [V that] I do not accept that there is any kind of crisis in British science. □ [V n] I don't think they would accept that view. □ [V n + as ] He did not accept this reply as valid. □ [V -ed] …a workforce generally accepted to have the best conditions in Europe.