Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PACE, n. [Fr. pas; It. passo; Sp. paso; L. passus, from pando, to open, or Gr. πατεω, to tread. See Pass.]

1. A step.
2. The space between the two feet in walking, estimated at two feet and a half. But the geometrical pace is five feet, or the whole space passed over by the same foot from one step to another. Sixty thousand such paces make one degree on the equator. – Encyc.
3. Manner of walking; gait; as, a languishing pace; a heavy pace; a quick or slow pace. – Addison.
4. Step; gradation in business. [Little used.] – Temple.
5. A mode of stepping among horses, in which the legs on the same side are lifted together. In a general sense, the word may be applied to any other mode of stepping.
6. Degree of celerity. Let him mend his pace. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day. – Shak. To keep or hold pace, to keep up; to go or move as fast as something else.