gas pedal
14
2.5
- noun
- /ɡæs ˈpɛdəl/
- US
:
acelerador
- To accelerate quickly, you need to press down on the gas pedal firmly.
- foot on the gas pedal
- press the gas pedal
- stomps on the gas pedal
So if you look at the stop versus gas pedal, the gas pedal is all the way down.
- So if you look at the stop versus gas pedal, the gas pedal is all the way down.
- So similarly, fuel injection means that when you press the gas pedal, it's a suggestion for the car to go faster.
- But pressing the gas pedal of how much to work and how much to not work is important.
Examples
-
Tom ducked, but kept his foot against the gas pedal.
Fiction book (2001) -
- The gas pedal is stuck!
-
Sit in here and keep your foot on the gas pedal.
-
And the gas pedal's missing.
-
You can back way off the gas pedal and maintain the same speed.
-
I was pushing hard on the gas pedal.
-
Once he took his foot off the gas pedal, we slowed fast enough.
Fiction book (2001) -
Jeff keeps the gas pedal on the floor.
Fiction book (1997) -
With an exultant heart, I bore down harder on the gas pedal.
Fiction book (1990) -
"Step on it!" The neighbor floored the gas pedal and the big car squealed down the hill toward town.
Fiction book (1993)
Synonyms
104
2.5
The pedal that makes a car go faster when you press it
91
1.8
A lever you press with your foot to control a machine like a car or bike
57
6.1
A lever or pedal that controls an engine's power and speed
15
3.0
A pedal in a car that makes the engine go faster
2
3.2
A thing you press with your foot to control a machine like a car or sewing machine
1
3.0
A foot pedal in a car that controls the engine speed
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'gas' (referring to the engine fuel/throttle) with 'pedal' (a foot-controlled lever), yielding a foot lever that controls the engine's gas/throttle. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common (e.g. 'accelerator/gas pedal' equivalents), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Gas pedal is a literal name: the pedal is a foot control and the gas means the fuel or power for the engine. When you press the gas pedal you give the engine more fuel and the car 'goes faster', so the name simply means the foot control that makes the vehicle speed up.