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• rev
  rev

  noun

  a revolution (in an engine or the like).
• rev.
  rev.

  abbreviation

  revenue.
• Rev.
  Rev.

  abbreviation

  Revelation.

rev

¹ American  

[rev] / rɛv /

noun

• revs
  plural

1. a revolution (in an engine or the like).

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verb (used with object)

revved, revving

1. to accelerate sharply the speed of (an engine or the like) (often followed byup ).

verb (used without object)

revved, revving

1. (of an engine) to accelerate; become revved (often followed byup ).

verb phrase

1. rev up to increase in strength or accelerate sharply.

   The economy is beginning to rev up.

rev. ² American  

abbreviation

1. revenue.

2. reverse.

3. review.

4. reviewed.

5. revise; revised.

6. revision.

7. revolution.

8. revolving.

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Rev. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. Bible. Revelation.

2. Reverend.

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rev. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. revenue

2. reverse(d)

3. review

4. revise(d)

5. revision

6. revolution

7. revolving

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Rev. ² British  

abbreviation

1. Bible Revelation

2. Reverend

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rev ³ British  

/ rɛv /

noun

1. revolution per minute

   the engine was doing 5000 revs

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verb

1. (often foll by up) to increase the speed of revolution of (an engine)

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• revs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of rev

First recorded in 1900–05; short for revolution

Explanation

Rev your engine at a stoplight if you want to race the car next to you. On second thought, don’t — to rev is to crank the engine without going anywhere. Also, a rev is one complete rotation of a motor. Rev, as a verb or a noun, is a shortened form of revolution. As a noun, it’s a rotation of the motor or the number of rotations in a minute. The word has been around since the early 20th century, following the invention of the automobile. Rev can be used for any internal combustion engine, but it's most often used for the zooming sound of a car engine. Rev and revolution come from the Late Latin revolutionem, "a revolving."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rev rev. Rev. revs revved revving

But as the removal vans rev up again in Downing Street, Burnham's arrival gives Labour a "second chance to make a first impression", according to one minister.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

You can almost hear the eagles scream, guitars riff and engines rev.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

I’d wager that most people seldom sit by themselves and ponder what makes them tick, what causes their engines to rev, or why they like that one specific thing.

From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026

But the signals so far suggest an IRS that’s scaling back high-end enforcement just as it was starting to rev it up.

From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026

Sometimes when he is making an aside he will rev up even further, as if to put in his own verbal parentheses.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

In Anarchism and Other Essays, 3rd rev. ed.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

Valuable as a short introduction to the subject is Sean Wilentz, “Society, Politics, and the Market Revolution, 1815–1848,” in The New American History, rev. and exp. ed., ed.

From Slate ● Jul. 9, 2015

A journalist still lingers in the twilight zone, along with the trained nurse, the embalmer, the rev. clergy and the great majority of engineers.

From Time Magazine Archive

The rev. gentleman said that the man who could be villain enough to supply the poor with such stuff as this called flour deserved to be punished to the utmost limit of the law.

From From Crow-Scaring to Westminster; an Autobiography by George Edwards M.P. O.B.E.

Authorized translation by L. A. Magnus from the 7th rev. ed. of the Sittengeschichte Roms.

From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Robert Ezra Park

The women around El-Sayed belonged to the Woman Difference Collaborative, an invitation-only network of Black women faith leaders founded by the Rev. Jessica Ingram.

From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026

In a December 2024 letter to Bass, the Rev. Mark Hopper of the Evangelical Free Church expressed similar concerns and asked the mayor to stop the project.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

After running for the nomination in 1984 and 1988, the Rev. Jesse Jackson sought to be a kingmaker in ’92.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

The Watts Rebellion and the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. three years later sharpened the political force of her vision.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

And Rev. Brown had married them all after the fact, so this was nothing new to him.

From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride

Alternative producers should curtail supply to prevent a glut as the Gulf revs back up.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

Styles’ submission to the beat on “Kiss All the Time” will be difficult to maintain as the pop-star machinery revs inevitably to life behind it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2026

On top of that, the electronics are not working properly, so the auto-blip on the gearbox, which revs the engine automatically to the right level on down change, doesn't work.

From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026

What only seems familiar: Powering out of a slow corner with the pedal pinned, the car pulling its guts out, stretching for the redline, revs quavering at the upshifts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026

As if to prove her point, Auntie Nina’s engine revs loudly.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

Alibaba on Wednesday saw its best single share-price gain in 10 months, as the broader Chinese tech sector revved higher after missing the rally propelling U.S.,

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

The funds enjoyed popularity in 2023 and 2024, when high interest rates revved returns on the loans they make to below-investment-grade companies.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

Occasionally, its operators revved its engine until the tires burned out, which sent gouts of flame and plumes of foul white smoke into the scorching air to block our view of the Washington Monument.

From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026

They revved their engines, doing doughnuts in the square and racing short distances.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

The truck revved and revved and shook and shook, but it was still stuck.

From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata

Residents have long complained about a proliferation of high-powered cars racing down the city’s major thoroughfares, peeling out and doing doughnuts, and drivers revving their engines into the early-morning hours.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

But rather than dialing anything back, the big players are just revving their engines more and more.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

He posted a video of himself revving the engine of a brand new Ram pickup truck.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

By revving the engine after just two weeks, ap Iorwerth has created an expectation that he'll complete a journey that others have failed to make.

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

The newspapers were already revving up for the coming baseball season.

From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers

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