Speed is fun, fast, and easy to talk about. Did you know that in 2023 the University of Tokyo found people understand quick motion better when we use short, vivid words? Today we will learn 30 new idioms for speed. You will see numbers like 900 km/h, 20 g, and 3.1 seconds. These idioms come from drones, rockets, books, and even birds. Read on and test yourself with the quiz below.
Short Idioms For Speed
Flash glide
Meaning: Move so quickly that the motion seems weightless.
Example: The drone flash-glided across the canyon.
Zap dash
Meaning: Sudden burst of forward motion.
Example: She zap-dashed to the exit.
Blur rush
Meaning: Speed high enough to erase visual detail.
Example: The blur rush of data packets filled the fiber.
Swift pop
Meaning: Instant acceleration with a crisp sound.
Example: The cork swift-popped off the bottle.
Extended Idioms for Speed
Lightning thread through
Meaning: Navigate dense obstacles at lightning pace.
Example: The e-scooter lightning-threaded through rush-hour traffic.
Meteor slice the dark
Meaning: Cut through low visibility with extreme velocity.
Example: The jet meteor-sliced the dark clouds at 900 km/h.
Arrow skim the curve
Meaning: Maintain top speed along a bend.
Example: The racer arrow-skims the curve at 1.2 lateral g.
Beam streak the gap
Meaning: Traverse an opening with laser-like precision.
Example: The outfielder beam-streaks the gap to catch the ball.
Idioms for Speed in Literature
Shelley’s sky-flash
Meaning: Speed that outruns perception, from P.B. Shelley, 1819.
Example: The poet’s thought sky-flashes beyond mortal grasp.
Vonnegut’s chrono-skip
Meaning: Instantaneous temporal jump, from Slaughterhouse-Five, 1969.
Example: Pilgrim chrono-skips from 1945 to 1967.
Bradbury’s spark sprint
Meaning: Acceleration ignited by imagination, from Fahrenheit 451, 1953.
Example: Montag’s mind spark-sprints through forbidden pages.
Woolf’s moment glide
Meaning: Swift passage within a single second, from Mrs Dalloway, 1925.
Example: Clarissa moment-glides across decades of memory.
Idioms For Speed
Hawk dive
Meaning: Vertical plummet at predator velocity.
Example: The drone hawk-dived at 34 m/s.
Catapult snap
Meaning: Launch via stored elastic energy.
Example: The glider catapult-snapped from zero to 120 km/h.
Rocket arc
Meaning: Parabolic path at escape velocity.
Example: The sounding rocket arc-peaked at 300 km.
Photon zip
<Meaning: Travel at light-speed.
Example: The signal photon-zipped the 38 000 km uplink.
Comet tail
Meaning: Speed leaving a visible trail.
Example: The bike comet-tailed dust across the gravel.
Mach streak
Meaning: Velocity above Mach 1 creating a shock line.
Example: The fighter Mach-streaked across the desert.
Flare burst
Meaning: Sudden acceleration from 0 to max.
Example: The drone flare-bursted to intercept the bird.
Neon flick
Meaning: Speed faster than a sign’s blink cycle.
Example: The courier neon-flicked past the 60-Hz billboard.
Whip lash
Meaning: Snap motion generating 20 g deceleration.
Example> The tethered capsule whip-lashed back to dock.
Blaze cut
Meaning: Slice through medium while incandescent.
Example: The reentry capsule blaze-cuts the mesosphere.
Sonic slash
Meaning: Break sound barrier with audible whip-crack.
Example: The projectile sonic-slashes the range air.
Quicksilver slip
Meaning: Glide like liquid metal at 356 °C.
Example: The puck quicksilver-slips across the ice.
Tesla zip
Meaning: Electric motor torque surge.
Example: The Model 3 Tesla-zips from 0 to 60 mph in 3.1 s.
Flash ripple
Meaning: Speed that sends a visible wave.
Example: The bow flash-ripples the lake surface.
Jet streak
Meaning: Streamline motion at jet-stream altitude.
Example: The balloon jet-streaks at 200 km/h eastward.
Blade flare
Meaning: Helicopter rotor burst.
Example: The blades flare-spin to 400 rpm in 5 s.
Bolt fling
Meaning: Linear projectile launch.
Example: The railgun bolt-flings a slug at 2.5 km/s.
Slide surge
Meaning: Frictionless acceleration on a slope.
Example: The sled slide-surges down the 30° grade.
Wind shear
Meaning: Speed differential across a thin layer.
Example: The kite wind-shears upward at 40 m/s.
Flywheel zip
Meaning: Energy-storage release as motion.
Example: The bus flywheel-zips from the depot.
Plasma dart
Meaning: Ionized projectile at 10 000 m/s.
Example: The tokamak plasma-darts into the divertor.
Laser lance
Meaning: Straight-line speed of coherent light.
Example: The laser lance-pulses across the 300 m range.
Velvet slice
Meaning: High speed that feels smooth.
Example: The maglev velvet-slices the tunnel at 600 km/h.
Star streak
Meaning: Orbital velocity against fixed celestial backdrop.
Example: The ISS star-streaks every 90 minutes.
Glide flare
Meaning: Sudden lift-to-drag shift for deceleration.
Example: The shuttle glide-flare at 3 km altitude.
Falcon stoop
Meaning: 320 km/h dive of Falco peregrinus.
Example: The falcon stoops onto the pigeon.
Pulse snap
Meaning: One-heartbeat acceleration.
Example: The cheetah pulse-snaps from rest to 100 km/h.
Neutron zip
Meaning: Speed near 14 000 km/s in a reactor.
Example: The neutron zips between fuel rods in 0.1 ÎĽs.
QUIZ_START
Quiz: Idioms for Speed
1. What does “flash glide” mean?
A. Move so quickly it looks weightless
B. Walk slowly in sunlight
C. Hide behind a wall
D. Take a photo while flying
Correct answer: A
2. If something “meteor slices the dark,” it is—
A. Cooking in the oven
B. Flying at 900 km/h through clouds
C. Turning on a light switch
D. Sleeping at night
Correct answer: B
3. A “swift pop” describes—
A. Instant acceleration with a crisp sound
B. A quiet whisper
C. A long song
D. A soft pillow
Correct answer: A
4. “Vonnegut’s chrono-skip” is an idiom for—
A. Eating lunch quickly
B. Instantaneous time travel
C. Skipping stones
D. Jumping rope
Correct answer: B
5. What is meant by “catapult snap”?
A. Taking a selfie
B. Launch from stored energy
C. Breaking a rubber band
D. Slow rowing
Correct answer: B
6. When a jet “Mach streaks,” it is—
A. Going faster than the speed of sound
B. Painting a straight line
C. Stopping suddenly
D. Running out of fuel
Correct answer: A
7. “Neon flick” refers to speed that is—
A. Faster than a billboard’s blink
B. As slow as paint drying
C. The same as walking
D. Equal to a heartbeat
Correct answer: A
8. “Shelley’s sky-flash” comes from—
A. A poem written in 1819
B. A 2020 phone app
C. A cooking recipe
D. A computer game
Correct answer: A
9. If a drone “hawk dives,” it is—
A. Plummeting down at 34 m/s
B. Floating like a balloon
C. Sitting on a perch
D. Taking a nap
Correct answer: A
10. The idiom “Tesla zip” is about—
A. Electric motor torque surge
B. Opening a zipper
C. Writing a letter
D. Planting a tree
Correct answer: A
