Outpace

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To go faster or develop more quickly than another person, thing, or process
2. To move ahead of or exceed someone else in speed or advancement
3. To increase or improve at a rate greater than a competitor or standard

Etymology: "Outpace" is simply "out" joined to "pace," and the sense of the compound is built directly into its parts. "Pace" comes from Latin "passus," a single step or stride, which entered English through Old French; the verb "outpace" applies the prefix "out" in its sense of surpassing or getting ahead of. To outpace someone is literally to step past them in the stride race. The prefix has a long history of its own. "Out" descends from Proto-Germanic "ūt," which carried the sense of being outside or beyond, and it was already present in Old English as "ūt." The same prefix appears in many other English verbs of this type, such as "outrun" and "outdo," where it marks a action carried past the expected limit.

Synonyms: surpass, outstrip, overtake, exceed, outdo

Antonyms: lag, fall behind, subside, diminish, weaken