accelerator
accelerator — 名詞
1. A flat bar or pedal inside a car, truck, or other vehicle. When you push it with
油門踏板
車內用腳踩下使車加速的踏板
A flat bar or pedal inside a car, truck, or other vehicle. When you push it with your foot, the engine runs faster and the vehicle speeds up.
Mei-Lin pressed the accelerator hard as she merged onto the highway.
Mei-Lin 用力踩下油門，駛上了高速公路。
collocation: press + the accelerator
The driving instructor told Ahmed to keep his foot away from the accelerator.
駕訓教練告訴 Ahmed 不要把腳放在油門上。
Elena took her foot off the accelerator and let the car slow down naturally.
Elena 把腳從油門上移開，讓車子自然減速。
Kenji checked the mirrors before pressing the accelerator to change lanes.
Kenji 先看了看後視鏡，才踩下油門變換車道。
In an electric car, the accelerator feels different from the one in a petrol car.
在電動車裡，油門踏板的感覺和燃油車不一樣。
- brake
The pedal that slows the vehicle down, opposite in function to the accelerator.
文法句型
the accelerator
press / step on + the accelerator
用法筆記
In American English, 'gas pedal' is more common in everyday speech than 'accelerator', though both are understood.
常見錯誤
2. A large scientific machine that pushes tiny pieces of matter, such as electrons
粒子加速器
將微小粒子加速到極高速度的物理裝置
A large scientific machine that pushes tiny pieces of matter, such as electrons or protons, to extremely high speeds so that physicists can study what they are made of and how they behave.
Scientists at CERN use the world's largest particle accelerator to study atoms.
CERN 的科學家利用全世界最大的粒子加速器研究原子。
compound noun: particle accelerator
A new accelerator is being built just outside Osaka for nuclear research.
日本大阪郊外正在建造一座新的加速器，用於核子研究。
Professor Okafor explained how the accelerator pushes protons to nearly the speed of light.
Okafor 教授解釋了加速器如何將質子加速到接近光速。
Building a particle accelerator can cost billions of dollars.
建造一座粒子加速器可能需要花費數十億美元。
The accelerator sends particles running around a huge circular tunnel underground.
這座加速器讓粒子沿著巨大的環形地下隧道運行。
- atom smasher
Informal, non-technical term for a particle accelerator; common in journalism and general interest articles.
文法句型
particle accelerator
a / the accelerator
用法筆記
Commonly appears as the compound noun 'particle accelerator'. The most famous example is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.
常見錯誤
3. A short-term program or company that offers new businesses money, advice, office
創業加速器
幫助新創公司快速成長的短期培育計畫
A short-term program or company that offers new businesses money, advice, office space, and connections to help them grow quickly and increase their chances of success.
The startup accelerator helped Fatima turn her small idea into a real company.
創業加速器幫助 Fatima 把一個小點子變成了一家真正的公司。
collocation: startup accelerator
Dozens of tech accelerators now operate across Southeast Asia and Africa.
東南亞和非洲現在有數十家科技加速器在營運。
Graduates of this accelerator have raised over fifty million dollars in total.
這家加速器的畢業學員總共籌募了超過五千萬美元的資金。
The Watanabe family's investment fund runs an accelerator for food-tech startups.
Watanabe 家族的投資基金經營一個專注於食品科技新創的加速器。
Oluwaseun applied to three different accelerators before being accepted into one.
Oluwaseun 申請了三家不同的加速器，最後被其中一家錄取。
- business incubator
Similar but not identical: incubators offer longer-term support and usually don't take equity upfront; accelerators are time-limited and intensive.
文法句型
an accelerator (program)
startup accelerator
business accelerator
用法筆記
Often contrasted with 'incubator': an accelerator usually runs for a fixed short period (often 3-6 months) and provides funding upfront, whereas an incubator offers space and support for a more flexible, longer duration.
常見錯誤
4. A substance that you add to a chemical mixture to make the reaction happen faste
加速劑；促進劑
加快化學反應速度但不被消耗的物質
A substance that you add to a chemical mixture to make the reaction happen faster while the substance itself stays unchanged at the end.
The lab assistant added an accelerator to speed up the curing process of the glue.
實驗室助理加入了一種加速劑，讓膠水的固化過程更快。
collocation: add + an accelerator
Concrete sets much faster when the workers mix in a chemical accelerator.
工人加入化學加速劑後，混凝土的凝固速度快了許多。
compound noun: chemical accelerator
Dr. Nakamura tested three different accelerators for the rubber manufacturing formula.
Nakamura 博士針對橡膠製造配方測試了三種不同的加速劑。
A small amount of accelerator reduced the chemical reaction time by half.
少量的加速劑就把化學反應時間縮短了一半。
Without the accelerator, the two-part epoxy would take hours to harden fully.
如果沒有加速劑，這種雙劑型環氧樹脂需要好幾個小時才能完全硬化。
- catalyst
A broader term; all accelerators are catalysts, but not all catalysts are primarily used for speed. 'Catalyst' is more formal and scientific.
- inhibitor
A substance that slows down or stops a chemical reaction.
文法句型
chemical accelerator
an accelerator (in chemistry)
用法筆記
Closely related to 'catalyst'. In chemistry, most accelerators are a type of catalyst, though 'accelerator' emphasises the speed aspect while 'catalyst' emphasises the enabling mechanism.