accelerator

noun accelerators

1. One who, or that which, accelerates. The Second World War is said to have been a great accelerator for many scientific findings.
2. A device for causing acceleration.
3. A substance which speeds up chemical reactions.
4. A pedal causing the vehicle to accelerate when it is pressed. As soon as you get onto the slipway, push the accelerator.
5. A chemical that reduces development time.
6. A device that accelerates charged subatomic particles; a particle accelerator.
7. A muscle or nerve that speeds the performance of an action.
8. An accelerator key. If they had allowed single-character accelerators, Windows wouldn't be able to determine whether the character was input or a shortcut.
9. A computer component using dedicated hardware to accelerate the processing and display of graphics.
10. historical A light van to take mails between a post office and a railway station.
11. A mentoring program for startup companies. In the nineties, before the accelerator era, startups were usually launched by mid-career engineers or repeat entrepreneurs, who sought millions in venture capital and then labored in secret on something complicated that took years to launch.

Similar: gas pedal, gas, throttle, go pedal, particle accelerator, atom smasher