rev up

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Verb

rev up (third-person singular simple present revs up, present participle revving up, simple past and past participle revved up)

1. (idiomatic) To increase the speed of an engine, especially that of a stationary motor car.
   • 2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

     The huge Rolls-Royce engine revved up. Then the back wheels spun furiously, and clouds of smoke filled the air.

2. (by extension, transitive) To make (someone or something) more active.
   • 2008 January–February, “70 Ways to Improve Every Day of the Week”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 134:

     Blast out of the gate on Monday by listening to up-tempo music before your workout. Israeli scientists say this can raise your heart rate, rev you up for an intense exercise session, and temporarily boost muscle power by 10 percent.

3. (by extension, intransitive) To become more active.
   • 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 225:

     I didn't much want to leave again, but, though I'm not sure I exactly understand why, I just knew I had to rev up again to play this thing out.

Synonyms

• (to increase the speed of an engine): give it the gun, tach up

Translations

to increase the speed of an engine

• French: monter dans les tours (fr)
• Italian: mandare su di giri, portare su di giri
• Portuguese: acelerar (pt)