gearnoun
uk/ɡɪər/us/ɡɪr/gear noun (ENGINE PART)
B2 [ C or U ] a device, often consisting of connecting sets of wheels with teeth (= points) around the edge, that controls how much power from an engine goes to the moving parts of a machine:
Does your car have five or six gears?
I couldn't find reverse gear.
The car should be in gear (= with its gears in position, allowing the vehicle to move).
When you start a car you need to be in first (US also low) gear.
figurative After a slow start, the leadership campaign suddenly shifted into top gear (= started to advance very quickly).
More examples
- Push the clutch in, put the car into gear, rev the engine and then gently let the clutch out.
- To go backwards, you must put the car into reverse gear.
- The car's gears aren't meshing properly.
- In cars that are automatics, you don't have to bother with shifting gears.
- It's no good - these gears are shot.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
The engine & engine parts
- battery
- carburettor
- cutout
- flywheel
- idle
- motorized
- pickup
- piston
- plug
- power steering
- radiator
- rev
- silencer
- sump
- suspension
- tailpipe
- tappet
- throttle
- transmission
- universal joint
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gear noun (CLOTHES/EQUIPMENT)
B2 [ U ] UK the equipment, clothes, etc. that you use to do a particular activity:
fishing/camping gear
Police in riot gear (= protective clothing) arrived to control the protesters.
See also
headgear
B2 informal clothes:
She wears all the latest gear.
More examples
- Police in riot gear were called in to quell the unrest.
- Everyone else was in jeans and casual gear and I had my office clothes on - I stuck out like a sore thumb.
- We got ourselves togged up in walking gear for the hike.
- A shop selling bondage gear has opened on the high street.
- Police in riot gear lined up at the end of the street.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Things needed for a task
- accoutrements
- apparatus
- armory
- armoury
- equipment
- gadget
- kit
- material
- necessaries
- paraphernalia
- stock-in-trade
- tackle
- thing
- tool
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Sportswear & swimwear
Clothing - general words
gear noun (DRUGS)
[ U ] UK slang drugs:
The traffickers knew that there would always be someone willing to move the gear.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Drugs - general words
- chase
- chems
- crank
- detox
- dope
- doped up
- jacked up
- legal high
- OD
- overdose
- peddler
- pop
- shot
- snort
- soft
- spliff
- spliff up
- stoned
- trip
- whacked
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Idiom(s)
be in/go into high gear
change/shift/switch gear
step/move up a gear