rev-up

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableinformal

   An act of making an engine run faster, or a short burst of excitement or effort to get something going.

   Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a rev-up' or 'rev-ups'.

   Patterns

   • a rev-up of something
   • give something a rev-up

   He gave the motorbike a quick rev-up before riding off.

   The team needed a rev-up before the second half.

   Sales got a rev-up after the new ad campaign.

2. 2phrasecountableinformal

   A talk or event meant to make people excited and ready to act.

   Grammar: Often used before another noun, as in 'a rev-up meeting'.

   Patterns

   • a rev-up talk
   • a rev-up session

   The coach gave the players a rev-up talk at halftime.

   We had a short rev-up meeting before the launch.

   Her speech was a real rev-up for the volunteers.

Word forms

Common combinations

give something a rev-up

Give the old engine a rev-up and see if it starts.

a rev-up talk

The manager gave us a rev-up talk before the big sale.

a quick rev-up

A quick rev-up of the crowd got everyone cheering.

need a rev-up

The project needs a rev-up if we want to finish on time.

Synonyms and how they differ

boost

Boost is more neutral and common in business writing; rev-up is informal and sounds more energetic.

pep talk

A pep talk is only spoken encouragement, while a rev-up can also mean making an engine or activity faster.

Opposites

Word family

rev verb

To make an engine run faster, often followed by 'up'.

revved adjective

Describing an engine that has been made to run faster.

Commonly confused: rev-up or revue?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “rev-up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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