ATV

American  

1. all-terrain vehicle.

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ATV British  

abbreviation

1. all-terrain vehicle: a vehicle with treads or wheels designed to travel on rough uneven ground

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Usage

What is an ATV? ATV is an abbreviation for all-terrain vehicle, a vehicle with specialized treads and/or wheels that allows it to travel on off-road terrain.ATVs are designed to travel over rocks, snow, and other difficult terrain. In the U.S., the term typically refers to a vehicle that has four (or at least three) wheels, a straddle seat, and handlebars for steering. ATVs are typically designed for one person, though some can accommodate two riders.ATV is used as a noun, as in My cousin and I used to race ATVs in the hills near our neighbourhood. ATV is a common way to refer to such a vehicle—it’s more common to call it an ATV than to say all-terrain vehicle.The term quad is commonly used to refer to an ATV that has four wheels and is typically used for recreation.Example: You’d need an ATV to cross those rocky paths.

Example Sentences

He’s also a widower who lost his wife not to some boring disease but in a way that only a real spitfire would go, by flipping her ATV.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2026

He hauls buckets of feed into the back of his ATV and unloads them in a pen crowded with cattle that outweigh him many times over.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026

The same year, however, he suffered a spinal injury in 2003 after a crash involving an all-terrain vehicle, or ATV.

From BBC • Jul. 22, 2025

The fall had aggravated an injury sustained in a near-fatal 2003 ATV accident.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 22, 2025

There wasn’t room on his or Thompson’s small machine to haul the dead person out, however, nor was there space on the Anchorage couple s ATV.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer