revn.2
/rɛv/, U.S. /rɛv/ 1. A single revolution of an engine or other mechanism with a rotating part. Also: a revolution per minute, as a unit of engine speed (cf. rpm n. at R n. Initialisms 1). Usually in plural when not in a compound.The revolutions are typically those of a crankshaft of an engine.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > [noun] > revolution
rev1851
1851 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 10 307 No. of revs. per min.
1901 Catal. Mech. Engin. Coll. (Victoria & Albert Mus.) I. 35 The example has 3 in. cylinders, with 4 in. stroke, and is intended to run at 300 revs. per min.
1932 S. C. H. Davis Motor Racing vi. 87 The car went well, held its revs. with something in hand.
1969 Listener 22 May 734/1 I admit to having enjoyed recently Kagel's Improvisation Ajoutée for organ..at 45 r.p.m... I am convinced that those extra 11⅔ revs per minute tightened up the form.
1972 Daily Tel. 25 Feb. 2/7 I felt the revs begin to build up. When this happened I changed up a gear.
1996 A. Johnson & K. Sherwin Found. Mech. Engin. v. 106 Since there are 2π (6.284) rad in every rev, it follows that equation (5.4) can be rewritten.
2005 Cheshire Life Aug. 300/1 The distinctive throb of a V8 engine pulling hard from low revs.
2. The sound made by a revving engine; an act of revving an engine. Also with up. Cf. rev v. 1.
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the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > engine sound > [noun] > roaring
brum1885
rev1942
vroom1967
1942 B. Kennerly & G. Berry Eagles Roar! xiv. 229 Then came two quick pops from above us, followed by the rev-up of a motor that was starving for petrol.
1959 D. S. Davis Old Sinners never Die xiv. 89 He heard the rev of the motor, acceleration, diminution.
1968 ‘M. Finch’ Eye with Mascara viii. 80 A little rev-up from time to time is good for running-in.
1982 R. Irwin in L. Weschler Seeing is forgetting Name of Thing One Sees i. 15 Each time he winds up just so before he shifts; then with a short rev of the engine between gears he gives the mufflers a slight rap.
2004 Bellingham (Washington) Herald (Nexis) 4 Mar. 1 c In a gesture of defiant bravado, he dropped it into neutral and gave it a rev.
2007 A. L. Hall Rhythm of Road 187 Every sound from the street—footsteps, the bark of a dog, the rev of a car—made me stiffen.
Compounds
rev counter n. an instrument that measures and displays the speed of an engine or other mechanism as revolutions per minute; = tachometer n. a.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > [noun] > instrument for testing > for measuring effectiveness, rotation, etc.
duty1827
revolution counter1855
motometer1876
rev counter1888
torsionmeter1905
torque meter1911
torsiograph1930
1888 F. E. Galloupe Index Eng. Periodicals 1883–7 240 Rev. counter.
1948 M. Laski Tory Heaven iv. 58 The car..had a searchlight and a wireless mast and outside gears and a rev counter.
2009 Sunday Times (Nexis) 19 Apr. (In Gear section) 16 Seeing the rev counter bounce towards the red and hearing the engine emit a howl of approval was a bit tasty.
rev limiter n. a device for limiting the speed of an engine, typically used in order to prevent engine damage or to restrict the maximum speed of a vehicle.
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1968 Road & Track Oct. 98/2 The wonderful rev limiter which cut the engine before the danger point.
1992 Amer. Motorcyclist July 30/1 These modules raise the rev limiter from a stock 6,000 rpm to 8,000 rpm.
2008 Scotsman (Nexis) 5 Sept. (Motoring section) 3 There's a rev limiter which cuts in automatically to save the engine.
rev meter n. = rev counter n.
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1917 E. C. Middleton Way of Air vii. 49 The pilot is able to distinguish his instruments..the altimeter, which records the height, ‘revmeter’ which indicates the speed of the engine and the compass.
2008 Guardian (Nexis) 12 July 99 I'm too tall to read the rev meter that pops out of the top of the dashboard like an afterthought.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
Rev.adj.n.1
/rɛv/, U.S. /rɛv/ A. adj.
1. Used before a name as a title of a member of the clergy: Reverend. Cf. Rt. Rev. adj., Revd adj.Chiefly with the (traditionally regarded as the ‘correct’ usage; see note at reverend adj. 1c).
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1599 V. Bruno First Part Medit. of Passion & Resurrection of Christ (title page) Collected out of diuers Holy Fathers, and other deuout Authours, by the Reu. Fa. Vincent Brvno of the Societie of Iesus.
c1682 J. Hull Observable Passages of Providence in Archaeologia Americana: Trans. & Coll. Amer. Antiquarian Soc. (1857) 3 170 The Rev. Mr. Cotton, and the church of Boston, ceased not for some years to send letters..to endeavor their reducement.
1721 D. Wilkins Leges Anglo-Saxonicæ (list of subscribers) The Rev. Mr. Henry Briggs of Loose in Kent, [etc.].
1785 (title) Lectures on the Canon of the Scriptures,..by the late Rev. John Blair.
1847 Carus Life C. Simeon 833 Recollections of the Rev. Chas. Simeon, by the Right Rev. Daniel Wilson.
1876 W. Whitman Daybks. & Notebks. (1978) I. 37 Rev. R. P. Graves.
1917 Congress. Record 14 Dec. (Daily ed.) 294/2 Rev. Joseph Burt Webster to be chaplain with rank from October 5, 1917.
1944 O. Stapledon Sirius x. 122 The Rev. Geoffrey Adams..was one of those clerics who had cared more for his parishioners than for self-advancement.
2009 Wall St. Jrnl. 21 Jan. r7/1 The Rev. Rick Warren..called the inauguration of the country's first African-American president a ‘hinge point’ of history.
2. = reverend adj. 1b.
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1664 J. Evelyn tr. Let. in tr. A. Arnauld Μυστήριον της Ἀνομίας: Another Part Myst. Jesuitism 220 Most Rev. Father, Your most obedient Son.
1670 J. A. Gibbes in A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses (1692) II. 865/1 Right rev. Sir,..I have thought to make a solemn consecration of this Cesarean present to the altar of memory and posterity.
1762 S. Dunn Let. 4 Sept. in Philos. Trans. 1763 (Royal Soc.) (1764) 53 68 I am, Rev. Sir, Your most obedient servant, Samuel Dunn.
1799 J. Falla Let. 27 July in tr. F. de S. de la Mothe-Fénelon Adventures Aristonous p. vi Rev. Sir, Your most obedient, And most humble servant, John Falla.
1839 J. Martineau et al. Let. 14 Feb. in Christian Pioneer Mar. 120 Let us, rev. Sir, place before you your own language.
1882 Guardian 18 Oct. 1461/3 I am, rev. sir, yours faithfully, ‘Clericus’.
1908 R. W. Alexander Missionary's Notebk. 14 Dear Rev. Father: Your letter was received and made a profound impression on the Sisters.
1988 L. Lee Let. 25 July in R. Y. F. Kwok et al. Votes without Power (1992) viii. 175 Dear Rev. Father/Rev. Sister/Sir/Madam, Re: Guidelines on participation of parishes, Catholic schools and diocesan institutions in election activities.
B. n.1
Chiefly colloquial. A member of the clergy; = reverend n. 1. Also as a form of address.
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society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > [noun] > address or title of
his reverencea1438
your reverence?a1440
fathershipa1500
dompnea1536
domine1566
reverendship1609
Revd1670
rookship1710
brother1741
venerability1843
Pfarrer1844
Rev.1862
reverend1869
1862 C. Thornton Conyers Lea i. 16 So I told Mr. Gawaine what the Rev. had said, and he laughed at first, but then he grew grave like on a sudden.
1900 A. W. Jackson James Martineau i. ii. 27 It is to be feared that the spirit that cannot see the nonconformist Rev. will, save in rare exceptions, fail also to see the nonconformist scholar.
1943 ‘R. Llewellyn’ None but Lonely Heart xxi. 118 Reverend Ernest Mott. Oxford, he is... Ain't you, Rev, boy?
1969 C. F. Burke God is Beautiful, Man (1970) 74 The Revs. in the church got cut in on it too.
1998 S. Morris & J. Hallwood Living with Eagles xiv. 198 They were disapproving because he was a Rev and successful with it.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
revv.
/rɛv/, U.S. /rɛv/ Originally colloquial.
1.
a. transitive. Of a driver or operator: to cause (an engine or vehicle) to run quickly, esp. with the clutch disengaged; to start (an engine or vehicle). Frequently with up. Also intransitive.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > operate internal-combustion engine [verb (transitive)] > cause to run quickly
rev1918
1918 Port Hacking Cough (Sydney) 14 Dec. 2 You walk to your machine, which has now been ‘reved’ up.
1934 Boys' Mag. 47 23/2 One after another the four engines were started, ‘revved’ with a deafening roar.
1944 A. Thirkell Headmistress i. 28 ‘Rev. her up, Copper.’ The ginger-haired bicyclist..roared away up the street.
1966 J. Betjeman High & Low 50 Below the windows, loads of loving relations Rev in the car park, changing gear at the bend.
1978 J. Irving World according to Garp xii. 234 He revved his engine as if he were clearing his throat.
1984 K. Hulme Bone People (1985) iii. 162 She let the car drift round the corner, revving so it corrected the slide into a turn.
2005 N.Y. Times 19 June ix. 8/1 He never needs to be prompted to cut the grass. He is more than happy to rev up his riding mower.
b. intransitive. Of an engine or vehicle: to run quickly; to start. Frequently with up.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > operate internal-combustion engine [verb (intransitive)] > of internal-combustion engine: run > quickly
rev1923
1923 Daily Mail 9 Mar. 12 This little engine..cheats the taxation authorities by its long stroke and its capacity for ‘revving’ fast without vibration.
1941 C. Beaton Diary Apr. in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xi. 87 The engines rev up ever more furiously.
1955 G. Greene Quiet Amer. ii. ii. 111 I could hear the cars of the soldiers and the diplomats revving up.
1973 J. Pattinson Search Warrant vi. 90 He heard a motor engine revving up, dying away, revving again.
1991 J. Kelman Burn (1992) 134 He could hear a vague whining sound like the engine of a bus revving and straining in too low a gear.
2007 I. McDonald Brasyl 25 In the garage two Suzukis rev up.
2. figurative and in extended use. Chiefly with up.
a. intransitive. To move or progress quickly or with increasing speed, or to begin to do so; (also) to act or operate frantically.
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the world > action or operation > undertaking > beginning action or activity > begin action or activity [verb (intransitive)] > and proceed with rapidity
to fire away1756
to ask away1844
rev1939
1939 Times 1 Sept. 13/6 The bee turned her back on the marauder, dug her small claws into the landing board, and ‘revved up’.
1964 F. Leiber Wanderer xxxviii. 268 Oh, I shall never sleep, never. My mind's revving and revving.
1982 S. Brett Murder Unprompted xiii. 127 ‘Some people don't have much of a sex-drive,’ Charles observed fatuously, aware that his own was revving up like mad.
2006 Church Times 10 Nov. 44/4 A cold wind is revving up.
b. transitive. To cause to move or progress quickly or with increasing speed; to stir up; to kick-start.
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the world > action or operation > undertaking > beginning action or activity > begin or enter upon (an action) [verb (transitive)] > stir up or rouse up
stirc1000
aweccheOE
stirc1175
arear?c1225
awakec1315
amovec1330
araisec1374
wake1398
wakenc1400
to stir upa1500
incend?1504
to firk upc1540
bestir1549
store1552
bustlea1555
tickle1567
solicitate1568
to stir one's taila1572
exsuscitate1574
rouse1574
suscitate1598
accite1600
actuate1603
arousea1616
poach1632
roust1658
to shake up1850
to galvanize to or into life1853
to make things (or something specified) hum1884
to jack up1914
rev1945
1945 Billboard 17 Nov. 37/1 The first op here..will clean up a pile of jack and rev up other ops to hike their talent budgets similarly to meet the competition.
1968 Mrs. L. B. Johnson Diary 31 Mar. in White House Diary (1970) 644 Lyndon came in with that jaunty step that I've seen him rev up under the most intense tension.
1989 Yankee May 160/2 Music must bypass whatever terror it is that revs the heart and befuddles the tongue.
2005 Time Out N.Y. 27 Oct. 28/1 Medina revs up a dance-happy Afrocentric crowd.
Derivatives
ˈrevving adj. and n.
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1918 W. G. McMinnies Pract. Flying 239 Revving, short for revolving.
1930 Times 29 Mar. 17/6 (advt.) The oil..is specially refined for the fast-revving engines of to-day.
1978 Islands (N.Z.) Aug. 86 I didn't dream of standing by the revving plane, the wires of the fences caught the whisper of the landing-lights.
1987 J. Franklin Molecules of Mind (1988) xviii. 240 The monkey brain was still basically a monkey brain, and there was a limit to how much revving up it could endure without beginning to malfunction.
1993 Sci. Fiction Age Jan. 31/1 It was the whirring of their huge wings that sounded like the revving of unmuffled engines.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.21851
adj.n.11599v.1918