gear up

verb

geared up; gearing up; gears up

intransitive verb

: to get ready

are gearing up for the big game

Examples of gear up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Newport Beach has declared a local emergency ahead of the tides and activated its emergency operations center, gearing up for flood prevention and response efforts. — Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2026

Netflix is gearing up for the Cliff Booth theatrical release November 25 in Imax before hitting the streamer beginning December 23. — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 23 Oct. 2026

The visits come as Republicans are gearing up for a potentially torturous election cycle amid broad voter dissatisfaction on a slew of issues, including the economy, war with Iran and Trump himself. — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 22 Oct. 2026

The Vega Foundation is currently gearing up for its fifth year, and Nuyten has been thinking about its future. — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 22 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1943, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gear up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup