speedrun

Etymology

From speed + run. There are isolated attestations of the term as far back as the 19th century, mostly hyphenated as speed-run and in an engineering context; it is unlikely that these cases influenced the modern form.

noun

1. (video games) A playthrough of a computer or video game in which the whole game or a select part of it, such as a single level, is played with the intent of completing it as quickly as possible, optionally with certain prerequisites.
   In the speedrun of Super Mario Bros. 3, Anonymous Jones finishes the whole game in just 11 minutes.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To perform or create a speedrun.
   In my most recent attempt to speedrun this game, I almost managed to beat the world record.
2. (by extension, Internet slang) To do something or undergo some process as quickly as possible.
   John decided to speedrun his trip to the grocery store.
   Dre said in an interview that he created SCAM to poke fun at other "shitcoins" or cryptocurrencies that are clearly pump-and-dump schemes, but at the same time make some money for people willing to put money behind it without any lofty talk to convince people anything more noble is going on. In doing so, SCAM is speedrunning the path of many cryptocurrencies: It hit a $70 million market cap (the snapshot current value of all tokens in circulation) almost immediately after launching, then slumped to $7 million, then $5 million, and now sits at $2.5 million. 3 May 2021, Edward Ongweso Jr, “This TikToker's 'SCAM' Cryptocurrency Took Off and He Can't Believe It”, in VICE, archived from the original on 2023-06-05
   I maintain that the first burrito he ever speedran was the most delicious, was folded with the most care, and had the best ratio of fillings, but burrito speedrunning is not about the flavour, it's about the time. 19 March 2023, Ben Sledge, “Inside The Chaotic World Of Burrito Speedrunning”, in The Gamer, archived from the original on 2023-06-03
   While DeSantis' allies have been speedrunning his political vendettas through the legislature, the Yale and Harvard alum embarked on a national tour ostensibly to promote his literary opus entitled The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival. 12 April 2023, Justin Miller, “DeSantis vs. Abbott: Tallahassee My Texas”, in The Texas Observer, Austin, T.X.: The Texas Democracy Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-12
   The result is an ouroboros of faith and science, where an intentional blurring of lines has created a society where a civilization is speedrunning through its development unaware that there are hands pushing them along. 14 July 2023, Zosha Millman, Joshua Rivera, “Foundation season 2 storylines aren't all the same kind of sci-fi”, in Polygon, archived from the original on 2023-07-21