gear lever

American

noun

British.

gearshift.

gear lever British

/ ˈɡɪəˌʃɪft /

noun

a lever used to move gearwheels relative to each other, esp in a motor vehicle

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of gear lever

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

There's no steering wheel, gear lever or handbrake, just a stop/go button which you could probably press with your nose.

From The Guardian • May 31, 2014

And the gear lever, usually operated by a rider's left foot, has been replaced by up and down shift buttons on the left handlebar.

From BBC • May 14, 2013

All models have gear lever on the steering post, but shifting is not automatic.

From Time Magazine Archive

British Ford was not pre-selective, had a gear lever of conventional U. S. type.

From Time Magazine Archive

He grabbed the gear lever and rammed it into low.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023