pace

pace1 [ peıs ] noun **

▸ 1 speed

▸ 2 exciting quality

▸ 3 walking/running step

▸ 4 ability to run quickly

▸ 5 way a horse walks/runs

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) singular or uncount the speed at which something happens or is done:

the pace of something: The pace of technological change increased steadily during the 20th century.

the pace of life: The pace of life in the village is slow and easy.

at your own pace (=as slowly or quickly as you like): The course allows students to progress at their own pace.

2. ) uncount an exciting quality that something such as a book or movie has, because of the quick and interesting way the story develops:

Her plays lack the pace and tension of her thrillers.

3. ) count a step that you take when you walk or run:

take a pace: Charlie took a pace backward.

I took a few paces toward her.

a ) a unit for measuring distance based on the length of a single step when you walk:

Twenty paces or so beyond the shed, the road twisted out of sight.

4. ) uncount the ability to run quickly:

a player with pace as well as skill

a ) singular the speed at which you move:

slow/quicken your pace: He slowed his pace to observe where Jerome went.

at a leisurely/brisk pace: We proceeded at a leisurely pace down the corridor.

5. ) count a particular way that a horse walks or runs such as a walk, TROT, CANTER, or GALLOP

gather pace

1. ) to start to happen more quickly and have more success:

After 1946, support for the World Health Organization began to gather pace.

2. ) to start to move more quickly

go through your paces

to show other people how good you are at a particular activity:

The team went through its paces in preparation for tomorrow's game.

keep pace (with)

1. ) to move at the same speed as someone or something else:

Ron had to run to keep pace with Guido.

2. ) to develop or progress at the same rate as something else:

The government is not allowing salaries to keep pace with inflation.

put someone/something through their/its paces

to make a person or machine show how good they are at doing something:

The test drivers put the new models through their paces.

set the pace

1. ) to establish a rate or standard that others have to achieve:

The deal will set the pace for the company's expansion over the next decade.

2. ) to run at a speed that other runners try to match, especially at the beginning of a race

stand the pace

1. ) to manage to do something at the same rate or to the same standard as others:

If you can stand the pace, you can make enough money to retire in five years.

2. ) to continue running as fast as the other runners in a race

pace

pace 2 [ peıs ] verb *

1. ) intransitive or transitive to walk with regular steps around a small area, because you are worried, nervous, or impatient:

pace up and down: He paced up and down between the kitchen and the living room.

pace around: She was pacing restlessly around the room as she talked.

2. ) transitive to establish a speed for another runner in a race

3. ) transitive usually passive to make the story in a book, movie, etc. develop in a particular way:

His movies were always paced so as to create maximum suspense.

pace yourself

to avoid doing something too quickly or doing too much at one time, so that you have enough energy left to complete an activity:

The exams last for several weeks, so pace yourself when you study.

,pace `out or ,pace `off phrasal verb transitive

to measure a distance by counting the number of steps that you need to walk from one end of something to the other:

I had already paced out the dimensions of my new home.