Adjacent Words

Gear definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GEAR, n.
1. Apparatus; whatever is prepared; hence, habit; dress; ornaments.
Array thyself in her most gorgeous gear.
2. More generally, the harness or furniture of beasts; whatever is used in equipping horses or cattle for draught; tackle.
3. In Scotland, warlike accouterments; also, goods, riches.
4. Business; matters.
5. By seamen pronounced jears, which see.
GEAR, v.t. To dress; to put on gear; to harness.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a toothed wheel that engages another toothed mechanism in order to change the speed or direction of transmitted motion [syn: gear, gear wheel, geared wheel, cogwheel]
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, gear, geartrain, power train, train]
3: a mechanism for transmitting motion for some specific purpose (as the steering gear of a vehicle) [syn: gear, gear mechanism]
4: equipment consisting of miscellaneous articles needed for a particular operation or sport etc. [syn: gear, paraphernalia, appurtenance] v
1: set the level or character of; "She pitched her speech to the teenagers in the audience" [syn: gear, pitch]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English gere, from Old Norse gervi, g?rvi; akin to Old English gearwe equipment, clothing, gearu ready — more at yare Date: 14th century 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. dialect chiefly British absurd talk ; nonsense 5. dialect 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 adjective II. verb Date: 1851 transitive verb 1. a. to provide (as machinery) with gearing b. to connect by gearing 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

U.S. Military Dictionary

A general term for a collection of spars, ropes, blocks, and equipment used for lifting and stowing cargo and ships stores. (JP 4-01.6)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 (often in pl.) a a set of toothed wheels that work together to transmit and control motion from an engine, esp. to the road wheels of a vehicle. b a mechanism for doing this. 2 a particular function or state of adjustment of engaged gears (low gear; second gear). 3 a mechanism of wheels, levers, etc., usu. for a special purpose (winding-gear). 4 a particular apparatus or mechanism, as specified (landing-gear). 5 equipment or tackle for a special purpose. 6 colloq. clothing, esp. when modern or fashionable. 7 goods; household utensils. 8 rigging. 9 a harness for a draught animal. --v. 1 tr. (foll. by to) adjust or adapt to suit a special purpose or need. 2 tr. (often foll. by up) equip with gears. 3 tr. (foll. by up) make ready or prepared. 4 tr. put (machinery) in gear. 5 intr. a be in gear. b (foll. by with) work smoothly with. Phrases and idioms: be geared (or all geared) up (often foll. by for, or to + infin.) colloq. be ready or enthusiastic. first (or bottom) gear the lowest gear in a series. gear down (or up) provide with a low (or high) gear. gear lever (or shift) a lever used to engage or change gear, esp. in a motor vehicle. high (or low) gear a gear such that the driven end of a transmission revolves faster (or slower) than the driving end. in gear with a gear engaged. out of gear 1 with no gear engaged. 2 out of order. top gear the highest gear in a series. Etymology: ME f. ON gervi f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gear Gearv. 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gear Gear, v. i. (Mach.) To be in, or come into, gear.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(gears, gearing, geared) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. The gears on a machine or vehicle are a device for changing the rate at which energy is changed into motion. On hills, he must use low gears... The car was in fourth gear... He put the truck in gear and drove on. N-COUNT 2. The gear involved in a particular activity is the equipment or special clothing that you use. About 100 officers in riot gear were needed to break up the fight. ...fishing gear... They helped us put our gear back into the van. N-UNCOUNT 3. Gear means clothing. (INFORMAL) I used to wear trendy gear but it just looked ridiculous. 4. If someone or something is geared to or towards a particular purpose, they are organized or designed in order to achieve that purpose. Colleges are not always geared to the needs of mature students... My training was geared towards winning gold in Munich. V-PASSIVE: be V-ed to n, be V-ed towards -ing

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Array, dress. See apparel. 2. Accoutrements, harness, array, armor, appointments. 3. Appointments, appliances, appurtenances, equipments, accessories, subsidiaries. 4. Harness, trappings, accoutrements, tackle, draught-gear. 5. Mechanism, machinery, mechanical appliances. 6. Gearing, toothed wheels, series of cogwheels. 7. Rigging, tackle.

Moby Thesaurus

Hydromatic, accessories, accommodate, accouter, accouterments, action, adapt, adjust, apparatus, apparel, appendages, appliances, appoint, appointments, appurtenances, arm, armament, array, attire, automatic transmission, bag and baggage, baggage, bedizenment, belongings, chattels, clobber, clockworks, clothes, clothing, cog, cogwheel, conveniences, cordage, cording, costume, differential, differential gear, drapery, dress, dressing, drive train, duds, duffel, dunnage, effects, equip, equipage, equipment, facilities, facility, fashion, fatigues, feathers, fig, fit, fit out, fit up, fittings, fixtures, freewheel, furnish, furnishings, furniture, garb, garments, gear train, gearbox, gearing, gearshift, gearwheel, goods, guise, habiliment, habiliments, habit, heel, high, impedimenta, implements, innards, installations, intermediate, investiture, investment, junk, kit, linen, livery, low, luggage, machinery, man, materials, materiel, means, mechanism, motion, movement, movements, munition, munitions, neutral, outfit, overdrive, panoply, paraphernalia, plant, plumbing, possessions, power train, prepare, rack, rags, raiment, regalia, reverse, rig, rig out, rig up, rigging, robes, ropework, roping, running rigging, service, serving, servomechanism, shit, sportswear, staff, standard transmission, standing rigging, stick shift, stock-in-trade, stuff, style, suit, supplies, synchromesh, tack, tackle, tackling, tailor, things, threads, togs, toilette, tools, transmission, trappings, traps, trim, turn out, uniform, utensils, vestment, vestments, vesture, watchworks, wear, wearing apparel, wheels, wheels within wheels, whipping, workings, works