Speedo
noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A speedometer, particularly one in a race car or other automobile. informal
"You don′t need to change dashboards since the switches and instruments are suited to the V8, although the speedo and tachometer will require modification to adjust them to your V8′s gearing and cylinders."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of Speedo. alt-of
- 3 A tight-fitting swimsuit, especially commonly worn by competitive swimmers and divers. Usually implies a brief or bikini style swimsuit. US
"I could tell that she was a serious swimmer, because every time I saw her at the pool she was wearing a Speedo of one design or another."
- 4 (by restriction) A male swimsuit, very tight fitting and small, brief-style, and not a thong-type. US
"She called down from upstairs, "He'll be out in a minute: he's just putting his Speedo on.""
Example
More examples"You don′t need to change dashboards since the switches and instruments are suited to the V8, although the speedo and tachometer will require modification to adjust them to your V8′s gearing and cylinders."
Etymology
Abbreviation of speedometer.
From the name of the swimsuit company, Speedo, which first designed and manufactured swimwear in Australia that was briefer and sleeker than most other swimwear then available.
Related phrases
More for "speedo"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.