gear

noun \ ˈgir \

|Updated on: 20 Jun 2018

Examples: gear in a Sentence

Definition of gear

1 a : clothing, garments

b : movable property : goods

2 : equipment, paraphernalia

fishing gear

3 a : the rigging of a ship or boat

b : the harness especially of horses

4 dialectal, chiefly British : absurd talk : nonsense

5 dialectal, chiefly British : doings

6 a (1) : a mechanism that performs a specific function in a complete machine

steering gear

(2) : a toothed wheel

(3) : working relation, position, order, or adjustment

got her career in gear

(4) : a level or pace of functioning

kicked their performance into high gear

b : one of two or more adjustments of a transmission (as of a bicycle or motor vehicle) that determine mechanical advantage, relative speed, and direction of travel

—

gearless

play \-ləs\ adjective

See gear defined for English-language learners

See gear defined for kids

Examples of gear in a Sentence

I somehow managed to pack all my gear into one suitcase.
soldiers in full combat gear
a complicated arrangement of gears and shafts
a car with four forward gears
Halfway up the hill, my bike slipped out of gear.

Recent Examples of gear from the Web

And yes, to those wondering about the rumors, he was decked out in Mizzou gear.

— alex schiffer, kansascity, "This week in Mizzou recruiting: Josh Christopher, Caleb Love, E.J. Liddell and more," 14 June 2018
Midterm election season is in full gear, of course.

— phil mattingly, CNN, "One year after grievous gunshot wound, Steve Scalise takes the field," 14 June 2018
The patch depicts a female astronaut in full gear, floating in space, looking toward the space station.

— marco santana, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Filmmaker Ridley Scott designs launch patch for CASIS missions," 13 June 2018
That’s in part because DWR that uses PFCs is still used in so much gear.

— kassondra cloos, Outside Online, "Outdoor Gear Makers: Get Green or Die Trying," 13 June 2018
The solution is to not have any whales become entangled in gear in the first place.

— NBC News, "Can flying drones save whales trapped in fishing gear?," 12 June 2018
When the galleries closed, the film crew arrived, hauled in the gear, set it up, filmed a few scenes and finally, around dawn, knocked it all down and left by the museum’s 10 a.m. opening — only to go through the same routine the next night.

— james barron, New York Times, "Nights at the Museum: When the Met Became a Movie Studio," 10 June 2018
Many of his favorite girls walked the runway, including Bella Hadid and Kaia Gerber who both posed for a post-show squad picture, still clad in Wang gear of course.

— liana satenstein, Vogue, "The 12 Best Fashion Instagrams of the Week: Kylie Jenner Goes Into the Wild, Teyana Taylor Does London, and More," 9 June 2018
After a few whirlwind weeks of flirting all over each other's Instagram accounts, getting matching tattoos, and cosplaying in Harry Potter gear together, Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande show no signs of taking their PDA down a notch.

— andrea park, Teen Vogue, "Pete Davidson Reportedly Talked About Ariana Grande During a Comedy Show," 8 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gear.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of gear

Origin and Etymology of gear

Middle English gere, from Old Norse gervi, gǫrvi; akin to Old English gearwe equipment, clothing, gearu ready — more at yare

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

gear Synonyms

Synonyms

apparel, attire, clothes, clothing, dress, duds, garments, rags, raiment, rig, rigging, threads, toggery, togs, vestments, vesture, wear, wearables, weeds;

Related Words

wardrobe;

array, bravery, caparison, finery, gaiety (also gayety), glad rags, pretties, regalia, trim;

foofaraw, frippery;

tatters;

costume, ensemble, frock, garb, getup, guise, livery, outfit;

civvies (also civies), mufti;

couture, ready-to-wear, tailoring;

activewear, loungewear, outerwear, playwear, sportswear;

nightclothes, sleepwear, smallclothes, underclothes, underwear;

haberdashery, menswear;

gear

verb

Definition of gear

geared; gearing; gears

transitive verb

1 a : to provide (machinery) with gearing (see gearing 2)

b : to connect by gearing (see gearing 1)

2 a : to make ready for effective operation

b : to adjust so as to match, blend with, or satisfy something

gearing wages to productivity

intransitive verb

1 a British, of machinery : to be in gear : mesh

b : shift 1c

gear down

2 : to become adjusted so as to match, blend, or harmonize

The industry is geared to meet growing consumer demand.

See gear defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of gear from the Web

The Victory Institute, an organization with a sister political action committee called the Victory Fund, is geared toward encouraging more LGBTQ candidates to run for office.

— maegan vazquez, CNN, "A record number of LGBTQ candidates are running for office to run for office. Here's why.," 15 June 2018
Image Balletomanes care about dancers more than choreography — and American Ballet Theater’s annual season at the Metropolitan Opera House is geared for balletomania.

— alastair macaulay, New York Times, "4 Buzzy ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Debuts, 1 Fainthearted Production," 15 June 2018
The program is geared toward children ages 3–12, but the music is for all ages. 2 p.m. Thursday, Lake Forest Library, 360 East Deerpath Road, Lake Forest, free, 847-234-0648.

— Lake County News-Sun, "Calendar: Summer Arts Festival this weekend in Lake Bluff," 11 June 2018
Hotstar is geared to run on mobile devices, targeting the many people who rely on cellphones for entertainment.

— shalini ramachandran, WSJ, "Comcast and Disney Chase India’s Shooting ‘Star’ in Fox Deal," 10 June 2018
Some of them are geared toward just the veteran themselves, some are couples, some are family events.

— marialuisa rincon, Houston Chronicle, "Villager Q & A: U.S. Army Sgt. John Kadleck, Wounded Warrior Project," 8 June 2018
Unlike other supercomputers, like the current record holder Sunway TaihuLight, Summit is geared specifically toward artificial intelligence.

— avery thompson, Popular Mechanics, "The United States Has the World's Fastest Supercomputer Again," 8 June 2018
Classes are geared towards 8- to 12-year-olds, and will take place 9-10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tuesdays.

— susan selasky, Detroit Free Press, "Eastern Market's Tuesday Market returns this week," 4 June 2018
The duo recently launched Fight Back, an hour-long weekly political podcast that will ostensibly be about the political stories of the week but geared mainly toward women.

— peter kiefer, The Hollywood Reporter, "Barbara Boxer and Daughter Nicole Launch Political Podcast In Time For the Midterms," 1 June 2018

Origin and Etymology of gear

derivative of ¹gear

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1851

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

See Words from the same year

GEAR Defined for English Language Learners

gear

noun

Definition of gear for English Language Learners

: supplies, tools, or clothes needed for a special purpose
: a toothed wheel in a machine
: a part that connects the engine of a vehicle or the pedals of a bicycle to the wheels and controls the speed at which the wheels turn

gear

verb

Definition of gear for English Language Learners

: to make (something) suitable for a particular use or type of person

GEAR Defined for Kids

gear

noun \ ˈgir \

Definition of gear for Students

1 : equipment

camping gear

2 : a group of parts that has a specific function in a machine

steering gear

3 : a toothed wheel : cogwheel

4 : the position the gears of a machine are in when they are ready to work

in gear

5 : one of the adjustments in a motor vehicle that determine the direction of travel and the relative speed between the engine and the motion of the vehicle