Definition
The total runway distance required for an airplane to accelerate from a standing start to a specified speed (typically the takeoff decision speed or liftoff speed), and then, assuming a rejected takeoff at that speed, to bring the airplane to a complete stop on the remaining runway.
Plain English
How much runway you need to speed up for takeoff and then stop again if you decide to abort. It is the worst-case distance: full acceleration up to the decision point, then full braking to a halt.
Context Anchor
Pilots encounter this term when checking takeoff performance, especially when deciding whether a runway is long enough for the airplane, weight, weather, and field conditions.
Derivation
Accelerate comes from a Latin root meaning “to hasten” or “to make faster.” In this term, the hyphen matters: “accelerate-stop” describes one complete runway event—speed up first, then stop before the runway runs out.
Why Pilots Care
It directly determines whether the available runway allows a safe abort if an engine fails near the decision speed, affecting flight planning and safety margins on marginal runways.
Grounding Statement
Picture the airplane rolling faster and faster down the runway, then the pilot closing the power and braking hard while still needing enough pavement left to stop.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as only the distance to accelerate or only the distance to stop. It is the combined distance for both actions in sequence: speed up, then stop.
Example Sentence 1
Before takeoff from the short strip, the pilot calculated the accelerate-stop distance and confirmed it was less than the runway length available.
Example Sentence 2
High temperature increased the accelerate-stop distance, so the crew selected a longer runway for departure.