to rev

Examples

• All

• Before the race began, the participants were eager to rev their engines and show off their speed.

• As the car approached the intersection, the driver decided to rev the engine to alert others of his presence.

• You need to go out there and you need to rev your engine.

  Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

• Come on, rev it up.

  Higher Ground (2011)

• I hear the engines start to rev.

  Deepwater Horizon (2016)

• Smiling, they rev their engines and set out over the surface of the lake.

  Fiction book (1992)

• Everybody stopped, but then the car next to you starts revving at a red light.

• Why don't you get in there and rev it up a few times?

  Elvis Has Left the Building (2004)

• He'd pull up to the house at all hours of the night and rev his engine.

  Fiction book (2000)

• Maybe we should rev up that tape recorder.

  Fiction book (2002)

Synonyms

H

to hit the gas

vsto rev

• Informal

8 3.6

Press the car pedal to make it go faster

is about engine speed change rather than general speeding up or acting faster

R

to rev up

vsto rev

• Informal

1 5.1

To make a car or motorcycle engine run faster

is the same meaning but phrased as a phrasal verb

Antonyms

S

to slow down

687 1.4

To move or act more slowly

I

to idle

• Specialized

2 5.3

To run at low speed while not moving

Phrasal Verbs

R

to rev up

• Informal

1 4.6

To make something faster or more active

R

to rev up

• Informal

1 5.1

To make a car or motorcycle engine run faster

Compounds

R

rev up

• Informal

5.3

A planned push to increase activity or results before an event

How Fast

to redline

• Specialized

1 7.8

to rev

14 4.9

to idle

• Specialized

2 5.3

Surface Forms

Etymology