(~s, pacing, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
The ~ of something is the speed at which it happens or is done.
Many people were not satisfied with the ~ of change.
...people who prefer to live at a slower ~...
Interest rates would come down as the recovery gathered ~.
= speed
N-SING: usu with supp
2.
Your ~ is the speed at which you walk.
He moved at a brisk ~ down the rue St Antoine...
N-SING: usu with supp
3.
A ~ is the distance that you move when you take one step.
He’d only gone a few ~s before he stopped again...
N-COUNT: usu with supp
4.
If you ~ a small area, you keep walking up and down it, because you are anxious or impatient.
As they waited, Kravis ~d the room nervously...
He found John pacing around the flat, unable to sleep...
She stared as he ~d and yelled.
VERB: V n, V prep/adv, V
5.
If you ~ yourself when doing something, you do it at a steady rate.
It was a tough race and I had to ~ myself.
VERB: V pron-refl
6.
If something keeps ~ with something else that is changing, it changes quickly in response to it.
Farmers are angry because the rise fails to keep ~ with inflation.
= keep up
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR with n
7.
If you keep ~ with someone who is walking or running, you succeed in going as fast as them, so that you remain close to them.
With four laps to go, he kept ~ with the leaders...
= keep up
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR with n
8.
If you do something at your own ~, you do it at a speed that is comfortable for you.
The computer will give students the opportunity to learn at their own ~...
PHRASE: PHR after v
9.
If you put someone through their ~s or make them go through their ~s, you get them to show you how well they can do something.
The British coach is putting the boxers through their ~s...
PHRASE: V inflects
10.
at a snail’s ~: see snail