Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SPEED, n.

1. Swiftness; quickness; celerity; applied to animals. We say, a man or a horse runs or travels with speed; a fowl flies with speed. We speak of the speed of a fish in the water, but we do not speak of the speed of a river, or of wind, or of a falling body. I think however I have seen the word applied to the lapse of time and the motion of lightning, but in poetry only.
2. Haste; dispatch; as, to perform a journey with speed; execute an order with speed.
3. Rapid pace; as, a horse of speed. We say also, high speed, full speed.
4. Success; prosperity in an undertaking; favorable issue; that is, advance to the desired end. O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day. – Gen. xxiv. This use is retained in the proverb “to make more haste than good speed,” and in the Scriptural phrase, “to bid one good speed,” [not God speed, as erroneously written.]