⚡ To speed up 🚗 To accelerate engine 📈 An energy boost

to rev up

1 5.1

To make a car or motorcycle engine run faster

phrasal verb
/rɛv ʌp/

Informal

: acelerar

As the race began, the driver decided to rev up the engine to gain an early lead.
rev up your engine

Oh, shoot, it's revving up your engine.

Examples

And it'd be like revving up a Mini Cooper's engine, but not making sure that they have the right gearbox and tires to deal with it.
Oh, shoot, it's revving up your engine.

Unbox Therapy
The mechanic told us to rev up the engine while he checked for any issues.
She revved up the engine to hear if there were any unusual sounds before the long trip.

Synonyms

to accelerate

vsto rev up

Specialized

331 3.7

To move faster or make something happen faster

refers specifically to raising engine running speed rather than general acceleration

to speed up

vsto rev up

161 2.5

To make something move or happen faster

narrows this to changing engine revolutions rather than general quickening

to crank up

vsto rev up

Informal

39 3.8

To increase the level or strength of something, for example volume, production

focuses narrowly on increasing engine running speed rather than general intensifying

to rev

vsto rev up

14 4.9

To make an engine run faster by pressing the gas pedal

is the phrasal form used more in casual speech

to step on the gas

vsto rev up

Informal

9 3.7

To press the pedal in a car to make it go faster or hurry to finish something

is about increasing engine revolutions rather than only speeding movement

to hit the gas

vsto rev up

Informal

8 3.6

Press the car pedal to make it go faster

emphasizes raising engine rpm specifically rather than any quick action

to hit the accelerator

vsto rev up

Informal

1 4.4

To try harder or work faster to reach a goal

focuses on raising engine revolutions rather than general vehicle speed

Antonyms

to slow down

687 1.4

To move or act more slowly

to idle

Specialized

2 5.3

To run at low speed while not moving

How Fast

to redline

Specialized

1 7.8

to rev up

Informal

1 5.1

to idle

Specialized

2 5.3

Surface Forms

rev up infinitive

rev up present participle

revvs up third person singular

revved up past

revved up past participle

Morphology

rev + up

The sense is directly built from 'rev' (to raise engine speed) combined with 'up' (to increase), so the expression denotes an increase in intensity; the noun 'rev up' is simply a nominalization of that compositional meaning. The metaphorical extension from engine speed to activity or effort is predictable and common in English (and mirrored in other languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the meaning.

Etymology

Rev up originally described what you do to a motor: to rev it so its parts turn faster and the sound gets louder. That literal action explains why rev up means 'to make an engine run faster'.