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Warp speed is an example of a phrase that entered the public consciousness through science fiction and eventually gained enough popularity to end up in the dictionary. The expression was popularized on the science-fiction show Star Trek in the 1960s. On the show, warp speed referred to a specific concept, namely the idea of faster-than-light travel. Within a relatively short period of time, Star Trek gained a devoted and intense following. Fans were soon discussing the fictional concepts of the show, including warp speed, with great enthusiasm. Eventually, the term warp speed was adopted by the general population. In the process, however, it lost its specific fictional meaning and came to mean simply "the highest possible speed."
Examples of warp speed in a Sentence
Carrie Battan, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2024
Filmmaker Parker Finn’s essentially standalone entry takes off at warp speed with an athletic tracking shot of a bloodbath.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
Energy Singularity, the start-up in Shanghai, is just one example of China’s warp speed.
—Ella Nilsen, CNN, 19 Sep. 2024
And while the series peers into various factors that contributed to Aaron Hernandez’s undoing, the man himself remains a cipher: driven by desires, and pressured by his ascent from poor teen to rich celebrity at warp speed.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Warp speed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/warp%20speed. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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