Meanings
plural all-wheel drives
- countableuncountableA wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously, particularly where power is directed to the wheels with the best contact with the ground.
The brave German car's all-wheel drive tackled and spun through almost eight inches of loosely plowed snow.
2012, L.B. Gregg, Men of Smithfield: Mark and Tony, page 1231 more example
So BMW has conjured a tweener — a roomier hatchback on platform shoes, with standard all-wheel drive — to attract customers who crave the 3 Series’ performance but need more utility to close the deal.
2014 February 21, Lawrence Ulrich, “Get Your $50,000 Hatchback Here”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 22 Feb 2014
Translations
Bulgarian задвижване на всички колела
- задвижване на всички колела (zadvižvane na vsički kolela)drive to all wheels
Finnish jokapyöräveto
- jokapyörävetodrive to all wheels
German Allrad, Allradantrieb
- Allraddrive to all wheels
- Allradantriebdrive to all wheels
Italian trazione integrale
- trazione integraledrive to all wheels
Japanese 前輪駆動
- 前輪駆動 (zenrinkudō)drive to all wheels
Polish AWD
- AWDdrive to all wheels
Spanish tracción total, tracción integral
- tracción totaldrive to all wheels
- tracción integraldrive to all wheels
- tracción en todas las ruedasdrive to all wheels
- tracción a todas las ruedasdrive to all wheels
- tracción de todas las siendo motricesdrive to all wheels
Cite this entry
all-wheel drive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all-wheel%20drive
“all-wheel drive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all-wheel%20drive. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “all-wheel drive,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all-wheel%20drive.
Source: all-wheel drive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.