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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

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Etymology

Origin of rev

First recorded in 1900–05; short for revolution

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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

Your turn to rev the engine, turn on the jets.

From "Booked" by Kwame Alexander

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

"And may I, my dear and valued pupil, may I ask?" began the rev. gentleman.

From The Tenants of Malory Volume 3 of 3 by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

At half-past nine, rev. mother advised our retiring to our cells, as we were to be up early the next morning, and en route for St. Bruno's chapel by half-past four.

From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by E. Rameur

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

One of his acrylic paintings, featuring two angels soaring above the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. monument, now anchors a larger body of work, “Los Angelitos.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

In California, the self-described tech-forward Rev. Justin Lester, 37, has taken the experiment further.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

Sullivan over a fund-raising ad for the Rev. Martin Luther King that had appeared in the New York Times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

But Rev. John Luckey, a Protestant minister who spent at least fourteen years as Sing Sing’s second chaplain, saw how it was eclipsed in importance by the character of the guards.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

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

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

And it is proper: a leather-stitched, handball-sized shift knob, ever shivering with engine revs, the short throws between gears landing in oiled, notchy slots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 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

But Watanabe did say that the reliability problems experienced meant Honda had not been able to run the power unit at maximum revs.

From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026

Berrycloth revs the engine and chugs toward town.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

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

DJ Maia Beth, from Washington, was first on the main stage, getting the audience revved up with a set of "happy anthems" including The Killers' Somebody Told Me and Rihanna's We Found Love.

From BBC ● May 24, 2026

Shares have revved 54% higher this year, gaining 25% in April alone, as Solaris has positioned itself to offer on-site energy to data centers for artificial intelligence.

From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026

She became the woman who, more than perhaps any one other person, made California’s air tolerable, if not technically healthy, and revved up the state’s climate and greenhouse gas policies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026

Apparently, it was drivable, despite those Pac-Man-shaped wheels, because Nemesis revved her engine and disappeared in a mushroom cloud of black smoke.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

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

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

There is one way, which company observers have said has been lacking since the Steve Jobs era: revving up Apple’s innovation engine, especially in artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 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

She dreaded the roar of the ignition, and placed her hands over her ears to block out the sound as she pressed her slippered feet to the gas, revving the engine.

From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

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