all-wheel drive

all-wheel drive (countable and uncountable, plural all-wheel drives)

1. A 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.
   • 2012, L.B. Gregg, Men of Smithfield: Mark and Tony, p. 123:

     The brave German car's all-wheel drive tackled and spun through almost eight inches of loosely plowed snow.

As well as 4x4 vehicles, the term also applies to 6x6 and 8x8 vehicles.

• four-wheel drive