ATV
Americanabbreviation
Usage
What is an ATV? ATV is an abbreviation for all-terrain vehicle, a vehicle with specialized treads and/or wheels that allows it to travel on off-road terrain. ATVs are designed to travel over rocks, snow, and other difficult terrain. In the U. S., the term typically refers to a vehicle that has four (or at least three) wheels, a straddle seat, and handlebars for steering. ATVs are typically designed for one person, though some can accommodate two riders. ATV is used as a noun, as in My cousin and I used to race ATVs in the hills near our neighbourhood. ATV is a common way to refer to such a vehicle—it’s more common to call it an ATV than to say all-terrain vehicle. The term quad is commonly used to refer to an ATV that has four wheels and is typically used for recreation. Example: You’d need an ATV to cross those rocky paths.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For example, an ATV and walk-behind tractor are now on the farm -- both far less energy-intensive than the typical tractor.
From Barron's ● Apr. 11, 2026
On the late-March phone call, the spouses brainstormed what they might sell, People reported, including some of their trailers, their ATV, a pressure washer and a wood splitter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026
He hauls buckets of feed into the back of his ATV and unloads them in a pen crowded with cattle that outweigh him many times over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026
By traveling along with all that — and Sharon’s cancer recovery, and Ozzy’s recuperation from an ATV accident — the attention economy shifted.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2025
Angelo and I rode up to the top of a grassy ridge on his four- wheel-drive ATV.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
