| Formes composées |
WordReference English-French Dictionary © 2026:
| at breakneck speed expr | (dangerously fast) | à tombeau ouvert adv |
| | | à toute allure loc adv |
| | Le bolide roulait à tombeau ouvert. |
at full speed,
at top speed expr | (as fast as possible) | à toute vitesse, à toute allure loc adv |
| | (familier : rouler, conduire) | à fond la caisse, à fond les manettes, à toute berzingue loc adv |
| | (faire tourner : un moteur) | à plein régime, à pleine vitesse loc adv |
| | If you run the motor at full speed for more than an hour, there is a danger it will overheat and seize up. |
| | Si vous faites tourner le moteur à plein régime pendant plus d'une heure, il y a risque de surchauffe et de panne. |
| at warp speed expr | figurative (extremely rapidly) | à une vitesse vertigineuse loc adv |
| | (figuré) | à la vitesse de la lumière loc adv |
| | It's difficult for companies to keep up with an industry that's moving at warp speed. |
| burst of speed n | (sudden increase in speed) | pointe de vitesse nf |
| | | accélération soudaine nf |
| | | coup d'accélérateur nm |
| | With a sudden burst of speed, he passed his competition and won the race. |
| cruising speed n | (vehicle: speed that is easy to maintain) | vitesse de croisière nf |
| flank speed | (nautical) | vitesse maximale nf |
| full speed n | (maximum speed) | vitesse maximale nf |
| | (moteur) | plein régime nm |
| | This boat's full speed is 30 miles per hour. |
| | La vitesse maximale de ce bateau est de 46 km/h. |
full speed ahead,
full steam ahead interj | (as fast as possible) | en avant, toute interj |
| | The enemy's approaching from the south – full speed ahead! |
| gather speed vtr + n | (get faster) | prendre de la vitesse loc v |
| | His bike began to gather speed as he rode down the hill. |
| | Son vélo a pris de la vitesse en descendant la côte. |
| high speed n | often plural (great velocity) | grande vitesse nf |
| | Trains have a long braking distance due to the high speeds at which they travel. |
| high-speed n as adj | (chase: very fast) (poursuite) | à grande vitesse loc adj |
| Note: A hyphen is used when the adjective precedes the noun it modifies. |
| | The movie features a high-speed car chase through the streets of New York City. |
| high-speed n as adj | (Internet, broadband: acting quickly) (Internet) | à haut débit, haut débit loc adj |
| | Having high-speed internet makes it easy to stream videos and movies. |
| high-speed steel n | (metal) | acier rapide nm |
| | High-speed steel is often used to make cutting tools. |
| high-speed train n | (railway train designed to travel very fast) | train à grande vitesse nm |
| | I can get to Madrid in two hours using the new high-speed train. |
| | Je peux aller à Madrid en deux heures en utilisant le dernier train à grande vitesse. |
| | (France, abréviation courante) | TGV abr, nm inv |
idle speed,
also UK: idling speed n | (engine's slowest speed) | ralenti nm |
| | ⓘCette phrase n'est pas une traduction de la phrase originale. Le moteur tourne au ralenti. |
more haste,
less speed expr | (Work carefully to finish faster) | il ne faut pas confondre vitesse et précipitation expr |
| | | hâtez-vous lentement, hâte-toi lentement expr |
| | Proofreading requires a lot of careful attention to detail; it's a case of more haste, less speed. |
| pick up speed v expr | (get faster) | prendre de la vitesse loc v |
racing skate,
speed skate,
racer n | (long-bladed ice skate) | patin de vitesse nm |
| shutter speed n | (photography: exposure time) (photo) | vitesse d'obturation nf |
| | J'ai mal réglé la vitesse d'obturation et ma photo d'Usain Bolt est toute floue... |
| speed along vi + adv | (travel rapidly) | avancer à toute vitesse, passer à toute vitesse vi + loc adv |
| | (véhicule) | rouler à toute vitesse vi + loc adv |
| | We watched all the German cars speeding along on the Autobahn. |
speed bump,
speed ramp n | (hump in road: deters speeding) (de vitesse) | ralentisseur nm |
| | | dos-d'âne, dos d'âne nm inv |
| | Driving too fast over speed bumps will damage your car's suspension. |
| speed bump n | figurative (hindrance) (figuré) | obstacle nm |
| | (figuré) | entrave nf |
| | I think that argument you had with your wife is just a speed bump. |
| | Je pense que cette querelle que tu as eue avec ta femme n'est qu'un obstacle. |
| speed camera n | (device that detects speeding traffic) (Automobile) | radar, radar automatique nm |
| | (Automobile) | radar de vitesse nm |
| | A speed camera was installed outside the school to deter drivers from going too fast. |
| speed dating n | (organized dating activity) (anglicisme) | speed dating nm |
| speed demon n | slang (fast driver) | fou du volant nm |
| | What a speed demon! - he's going to get hurt some day. |
| | Quel fou du volant ! Un jour, il aura un accident. |
| | (familier) | [qqn] qui se prend pour Fangio loc n |
| | Il se prend pour Fangio ! Un jour, il aura un accident. |
| speed dial n | (phone feature: calling a number automatically) | numérotation abrégée, numérotation rapide nf |
| speed freak n | slang (amphetamine user) (familier) | accro au speed, accro aux amphétamines nmf |
| | (familier) | junkie nmf |
| speed hump n | (bump in road that slows traffic) (de vitesse) | ralentisseur nm |
| | | dos-d'âne, dos d'âne nm inv |
| speed limit n | (legal restriction on vehicle speed) | vitesse maximale autorisée nf |
| | | limite de vitesse, limitation de vitesse nf |
| | | la vitesse est limitée à ... |
| | In the United States, the speed limit for most highways is 65 miles per hour. |
| | Aux États-Unis, la vitesse maximale autorisée sur les autoroutes est de 65 miles par heure. |
| | Aux États-Unis, la vitesse est limitée à 65 miles à l'heure sur les autoroutes. |
| speed of light n | (how fast light travels) | vitesse de la lumière nf |
| speed of sound n | (how fast sound travels) | vitesse du son nf |
| speed record n | (fastest speed officially recorded) | record de vitesse nm |
| | The Guinness World Book tracks the speed records of cars, airplanes, boats, etc. |
| speed restriction n | (speed limit on road) | limitation de vitesse, limite de vitesse nf |
| speed skater n | (sportsperson: races on ice skates) | patineur de vitesse, patineuse de vitesse nm, nf |
| speed skating n | (sport: racing on ice skates) | patinage de vitesse nm |
| speed trap n | (stretch of road where speed is monitored) | radar nm |
| | The police set up a speed trap to catch people driving too fast. |
| | La police a mis un radar pour arrêter les personnes en excès de vitesse. |
speedup,
speed-up n | informal (acceleration) | accélération nf |
speedup,
speed-up n | informal (business: increase in production rate) | accélération, augmentation nf |
stall speed,
stalling speed n | (aircraft: maximum lift coefficient) (Aéronautique) | vitesse de décrochage nf |
| supersonic speed n | (velocity faster than sound) | vitesse supersonique nf |
| | Le Concorde ne volait à vitesse supersonique qu'au-dessus de l'océan. |
| top speed n | (highest velocity) | vitesse maximale nf |
| | The Ferrari reached its top speed on the test track. |
| up to speed expr | figurative, informal (know the current situation) | être au courant (de [qch]) loc v |
| | (Travail, sur une compétence) | être à niveau (sur [qch]) loc v |
| | (après un long arrêt) | être à la page, être au diapason loc v |
| | (après un long arrêt) | to get up to speed : se mettre à la page, se mettre au diapason v pron |
| | The boss scheduled a meeting so that the whole team would be up to speed on the project. |
| bring [sb] up to speed v expr | figurative, informal (update) | mettre [qqn] au courant (de [qch]) loc v |
| | (Travail, sur une compétence) | mettre [qqn] à niveau (sur [qch]) loc v |
| | (après un long arrêt) | mettre [qqn] à la page, mettre [qqn] au diapason loc v |
| | When Michelle returned from maternity leave, the colleague who had covered for her brought her up to speed. |
| wind speed n | (how fast the wind is blowing) | vitesse du vent nf |