Gear definition |Dictionary.com

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9 dictionary results for: Gear

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

gear

[geer] Pronunciation Key

–noun

Machinery.

a.	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.

b.	an assembly of such parts.

c.	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.

d.	a mechanism or group of parts performing one function or serving one purpose in a complex machine: steering gear.

2.	implements, tools, or apparatus, esp. as used for a particular occupation or activity; paraphernalia: fishing gear.

3.	a harness, esp. of horses.

Nautical.

a.	the lines, tackles, etc., of a particular sail or spar.

b.	the personal tools, clothing, and other possessions of a sailor.

5.	portable items of personal property, including clothing; possessions: The campers keep all their gear in footlockers.

6.	wearing apparel; clothing: The fashion pages of the Sunday paper are featuring the latest fall gear.

7.	armor or arms.

–verb (used with object)

8.	to provide with or connect by gearing.

9.	to put in or into gear.

10.	to provide with gear; supply; equip.

11.	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.

–verb (used without object)

12.	to fit exactly, as one part of gearing into another; come into or be in gear.

–adjective

13.	Slang. great; wonderful.

—Verb phrases

14.

gear down,

a.	Automotive. to shift the transmission of a vehicle to a lower gear: The truck driver geared down at the top of the hill.

b.	to reduce in scope or intensity: With less income you'll have to gear down your spending habits.

15.

gear up,

a.	to make or get ready for a future event or situation: Insiders say the senator is gearing up to run for governor.

b.	to get or put on equipment or clothing for a particular purpose: The hikers geared up for the long trek down the mountain.

c.	to arouse or excite, as with enthusiasm or expectation: The employees were geared up for a hard battle with management over working hours.

—Idioms

16.

in gear,

a.	Machinery. in the state in which gears are connected or meshed: The car is in gear.

b.	in proper or active working order; functioning continuously without trouble: Every department in this company must be in gear at all times.

17.	in or into high gear, in or into a state of utmost speed, activity, or efficiency: Military rearmament moved into high gear.

18.	out of gear, Machinery. in the state in which gears are not connected or meshed: The engine is out of gear.

19.	shift or 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: 1150–1200; ME gere < ON gervi, gørvi; akin to OE gearwe equipment

]

—Related forms

gearless, adjective

—Synonyms 2. equipment, outfit, tackle, rig.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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www.ThomasNet.com

Custom Gears Manufacturer
Made to Order Gears, 3D CAD models Worm Gears Bevel Gears Helical Gear
www.rushgears.com

Gear manufacturer
Precision gear design and development made to specification
www.GearMotions.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

gear (gîr) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. A toothed machine part, such as a wheel or cylinder, that meshes with another toothed part to transmit motion or to change speed or direction.
2. A complete assembly that performs a specific function in a larger machine.
3. A transmission configuration for a specific ratio of engine to axle torque in a motor vehicle.
4. Clothing and accessories: the latest gear for teenagers.
5. Personal belongings, including clothing: keeps her gear in a trunk.
6. A ship's rigging.
7. A sailor's personal effects.
Equipment, such as tools or clothing, used for a particular activity: fishing gear. See Synonyms at equipment.
1. Clothing and accessories: the latest gear for teenagers.
2. Personal belongings, including clothing: keeps her gear in a trunk.
3. A ship's rigging.
4. A sailor's personal effects.
The harness for a horse.
Nautical
1. A ship's rigging.
2. A sailor's personal effects.

v. geared, gear·ing, gears

v. tr.

1. To equip with gears.
2. To connect by gears.
3. To put into gear.
To adjust or adapt so as to make suitable: geared the speech to a conservative audience.
To provide with gear; equip.

v. intr.

To come into or be in gear.
To become adjusted so as to fit or blend.

Phrasal Verb(s):
gear up
To get ready for a coming action or event: a group of investors who had geared up for the takeover fight.

[Middle English gere, equipment, from Old Norse gervi; akin to gera, to do, make, make ready.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
gear

c.1205, "equipment," from O.N. gervi "apparel," related to gerr "ready," and gerva "make ready," from P.Gmc. *garwin- (cf. O.E. gearwe; O.H.G. garawi "clothing, dress," garawen "to make ready;" Ger. gerben "to tan"), from PIE *garw-. Meaning of "toothed wheel in machinery" first attested 1523. Slang for "male sex organs" from 1675. British slang sense of "stylish, excellent" first recorded 1951, from earlier that's the gear, expression of approval, 1925.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

gear
noun
1.	a toothed wheel that engages another toothed mechanism in order to change the speed or direction of transmitted motion
2.	wheelwork consisting of a connected set of rotating gears by which force is transmitted or motion or torque is changed; "the fool got his tie caught in the geartrain" [syn: gearing]
3.	a mechanism for transmitting motion for some specific purpose (as the steering gear of a vehicle)
4.	equipment consisting of miscellaneous articles needed for a particular operation or sport etc.
verb
1.	set the level or character of; "She pitched her speech to the teenagers in the audience"

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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

gear

see high gear; slip a cog (gear).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

gear (gîr) Pronunciation Key

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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.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Gear

Gear\, n. [OE. gere, ger, AS. gearwe clothing, adornment, armor, fr. gearo, gearu, ready, yare; akin to OHG. garaw[=i], garw[=i] ornament, dress. See Yare, and cf. Garb dress.]

1. Clothing; garments; ornaments.

Array thyself in thy most gorgeous gear. --Spenser.

2. Goods; property; household stuff. --Chaucer.

Homely gear and common ware. --Robynson (More's Utopia).

3. Whatever is prepared for use or wear; manufactured stuff or material.

Clad in a vesture of unknown gear. --Spenser.

4. The harness of horses or cattle; trapping.

5. Warlike accouterments. [Scot.] --Jamieson.

6. Manner; custom; behavior. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

7. Business matters; affairs; concern. [Obs.]

Thus go they both together to their gear. --Spenser.

8. (Mech.) (a) A toothed wheel, or cogwheel; as, a spur gear, or a bevel gear; also, toothed wheels, collectively. (b) An apparatus for performing a special function; gearing; as, the feed gear of a lathe. (c) Engagement of parts with each other; as, in gear; out of gear.

9. pl. (Naut.) See 1st Jeer (b) .

10. Anything worthless; stuff; nonsense; rubbish. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] --Wright.

That servant of his that confessed and uttered this gear was an honest man. --Latimer.

Bever gear. See Bevel gear.

Core gear, a mortise gear, or its skeleton. See Mortise wheel, under Mortise.

Expansion gear (Steam Engine), the arrangement of parts for cutting off steam at a certain part of the stroke, so as to leave it to act upon the piston expansively; the cut-off. See under Expansion.

Feed gear. See Feed motion, under Feed, n.

Gear cutter, a machine or tool for forming the teeth of gear wheels by cutting.

Gear wheel, any cogwheel.

Running gear. See under Running.

To throw in, or out of, gear (Mach.), to connect or disconnect (wheelwork or couplings, etc.); to put in, or out of, working relation.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Gear

Gear\v. t. [imp. & p. p. Geared; p. pr. & vb. n. Gearing.]

1. To dress; to put gear on; to harness.

2. (Mach.) To provide with gearing.

Double geared, driven through twofold compound gearing, to increase the force or speed; -- said of a machine.