gear
- Machinery.
- a part, as a disk, wheel, or section of a shaft, having cut teeth of such form, size, and spacing that they mesh with teeth in another part to transmit or receive force and motion.
- an assembly of such parts.
- one of several possible arrangements of such parts in a mechanism, as an automobile transmission, for affording different relations of torque and speed between the driving and the driven machinery, or for permitting the driven machinery to run in either direction: first gear; reverse gear.
- a mechanism or group of parts performing one function or serving one purpose in a complex machine: steering gear.
- implements, tools, or apparatus, especially as used for a particular occupation or activity; paraphernalia: fishing gear.
- a harness, especially of horses.
- Nautical.
- the lines, tackles, etc., of a particular sail or spar.
- the personal tools, clothing, and other possessions of a sailor.
- portable items of personal property, including clothing; possessions: The campers keep all their gear in footlockers.
- wearing apparel; clothing: The fashion pages of the Sunday paper are featuring the latest fall gear.
- armor or arms.
- to provide with or connect by gearing.
- to put in or into gear.
- to provide with gear; supply; equip.
- to prepare, adjust, or adapt to a particular situation, person, etc., in order to bring about satisfactory results: The producers geared their output to seasonal demands.
- to fit exactly, as one part of gearing into another; come into or be in gear.
- Slang. great; wonderful.
- gear down,
- Automotive.to shift the transmission of a vehicle to a lower gear: The truck driver geared down at the top of the hill.
- to reduce in scope or intensity: With less income you'll have to gear down your spending habits.
- gear up,
- to make or get ready for a future event or situation: Insiders say the senator is gearing up to run for governor.
- to get or put on equipment or clothing for a particular purpose: The hikers geared up for the long trek down the mountain.
- to arouse or excite, as with enthusiasm or expectation: The employees were geared up for a hard battle with management over working hours.
- in gear,
- Machinery.in the state in which gears are connected or meshed: The car is in gear.
- in proper or active working order; functioning continuously without trouble: Every department in this company must be in gear at all times.
- in/into high gear, in or into a state of utmost speed, activity, or efficiency: Military rearmament moved into high gear.
- out of gear, Machinery. in the state in which gears are not connected or meshed: The engine is out of gear.
- shift/switch gears, to change one's attitude, course of action, methods, etc., in an abrupt, dramatic, or unexpected manner: In the middle of the second act the play shifts gears from comedy to tragedy.
Origin of gear
Synonyms for gear
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for geared
organize, fit, tailor, adjust, adapt, regulate, appoint, accouter, outfit, harness, furnish, suit, ready, rig, blend, arm, matchExamples from the Web for geared
Contemporary Examples of geared
A blandly written, barely acted sitcom about high schoolers but geared toward adolescents?
The total is often geared to years served – for example, 14 days after five years.
Obama’s Extravagant Summer Break? More Like, America’s Vacation-Deficit DisorderClive Irving
August 10, 2014
If American life is geared to profit, Brazilian life is geared to goals.
Politics is not geared toward long-term thinking—far from it—but that is what complicated tech projects require.
Geared toward both novices and up-and-coming competitors, classes include Sexy Pole Dance Basics or Pole Dance Workout Advanced.
Historical Examples of geared
I have it geared to a small motor, and it's been running steadily for some time.
Tom Swift and his Electric RunaboutVictor Appleton
This, like the water-pump, is geared to the engine and driven by it.
Boys' Book of Model BoatsRaymond Francis Yates
It will be seen that the water-pump E is geared to the engine.
Boys' Book of Model BoatsRaymond Francis Yates
Everything must be geared and geared at once to the Germans' being right.
The Ghost in the White HouseGerald Stanley Lee
The household was geared to the "bog," as they called the biography.
Susan B. AnthonyAlma Lutz
gear
- a toothed wheel that engages with another toothed wheel or with a rack in order to change the speed or direction of transmitted motion
- a mechanism for transmitting motion by gears, esp for a specific purposethe steering gear of a boat
- the engagement or specific ratio of a system of gearsin gear; high gear
- personal equipment and accoutrements; belongings
- equipment and supplies for a particular operation, sport, etcfishing gear
- nautical all equipment or appurtenances belonging to a certain vessel, sailor, etc
- short for landing gear
- informal up-to-date clothes and accessories, esp those bought by young people
- slang
- stolen goods
- illegal drugs
- a less common word for harness (def. 1)
- in gear working or performing effectively or properly
- out of gear out of order; not functioning properly
- (tr) to adjust or adapt (one thing) so as to fit in or work with anotherto gear our output to current demand
- (tr) to equip with or connect by gears
- (intr) to be in or come into gear
- (tr) to equip with harness
Word Origin for gear
Word Origin and History for geared
gear
c.1200, "fighting equipment," probably from Old Norse gervi "apparel," related to gerr "ready," and gerva "make ready," from Proto-Germanic *garwin- (cf. Old English gearwe "clothing, equipment, ornament;" Old High German garawi "clothing, dress," garawen "to make ready;" German gerben "to tan"). Meaning "toothed wheel in machinery" first attested 1520s. Slang for "male sex organs" from 1670s. British adjective slang sense of "stylish, excellent" first recorded 1951, from earlier that's the gear, expression of approval, 1925.
gear
c.1200, "to equip oneself for fighting; dress," probably from gear (n.). Related: Geared; gearing.
gear
- A wheel with teeth around its rim that mesh with the teeth of another wheel to transmit motion. Gears are used to transmit power (as in a car transmission) or change the direction of motion in a mechanism (as in a differential axle). Fixed ratios of speed in various parts of a machine is often established by the arrangement of gears.
Idioms and Phrases with geared
gear
see high gear; slip a cog (gear).