English▸ noun
1 a single step taken when walking or running:
Kirov stepped back a pace.
▪ a unit of length representing the distance between two successive steps in walking.
▪ a gait of a horse or other animal, especially one of the recognized trained gaits of a horse.
▪ literary a person's manner of walking or running:
I steal with quiet pace.
2 consistent and continuous speed in walking, running, or moving:
most traffic moved at the pace of the riverboat
[in singular] walking at a comfortably fast pace.
▪ the speed or rate at which something happens, changes, or develops:
the children work separately in the classroom at their own pace
the poor neighborhoods fester at an increasingly rapid pace.
▸ verb [no object] walk at a steady and consistent speed, especially back and forth and as an expression of one's anxiety or annoyance:
we paced up and down in exasperation
[with object] she had been pacing the room.
▪ [with object] measure (a distance) by walking it and counting the number of steps taken:
I paced out the dimensions of my new home.
▪ [with object] lead (another runner in a race) in order to establish a competitive speed:
Morales paced us for four miles.
▪ (pace oneself) do something at a slow and steady rate or speed in order to avoid overexerting oneself:
Frank was pacing himself for the long night and day ahead.
▪ [with object] move or develop (something) at a particular rate or speed:
the action is paced to the beat of a perky march
[as adjective in combination] (-paced) our fast-paced daily lives.
▪ (of a horse) move in a distinctive lateral gait in which both legs on the same side are lifted together, seen mostly in specially bred or trained horses.
– PHRASES
change of pace mainly North American
a change from what one is used to:
move, develop, or progress at the same speed as:
be able to keep up with another or others:
behind the leader or leading group in a race or contest:
make someone or something demonstrate their abilities:
be the fastest runner in the early part of a race:
change of pace mainly North American
a change from what one is used to:
the magenta is a change of pace from traditional red.
keep pace with move, develop, or progress at the same speed as:
fees have had to be raised a little to keep pace with inflation.
last the pace (also stay the pace or stand the pace) mainly British be able to keep up with another or others:
a sprinter will never last the pace with a distance man.
off the pace behind the leader or leading group in a race or contest:
Duncan was two seconds off the pace
figurative he was well off the pace when it came to team politics.
put someone or something through their paces make someone or something demonstrate their abilities:
the cars are examined by our safety experts and put through their paces by our drivers.
set the pace be the fastest runner in the early part of a race:
Nolan set the pace over the cross-country course.
▪ lead the way in doing or achieving something:
space movies have set the pace for the development of special effects.
– ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French pas, from Latin passus ‘stretch (of the leg)’, from pandere ‘to stretch’.