gear

English Online Dictionary. What means gear‎? What does gear mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English gere, a borrowing from Old Norse gervi, from Proto-Germanic *garwijaną (“to prepare”). See also adjective yare, yar from the same root via Old English.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɡɪə/
• (US) enPR: gîr, IPA^(key): /ɡɪɚ/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ɡiə/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ɡiːɹ/
• (East Anglia, cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /ɡɛː/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Noun

gear (countable and uncountable, plural gears)

1. (uncountable) Equipment or paraphernalia, especially that used for an athletic endeavor.
2. Clothing; garments.
3. (obsolete) Goods; property; household items.
4. (countable) A wheel with grooves (teeth) engraved on the outer circumference, such that two such devices can interlock and convey motion from one to the other; a gear wheel.

   Synonyms: cog, cogwheel, gearwheel

5. (countable, automotive, cycling) A particular combination or choice of interlocking gears, such that a particular gear ratio is achieved.
6. (countable, automotive) A configuration of the transmission of a motor car so as to achieve a particular ratio of engine to axle torque.
7. (aviation) Ellipsis of landing gear.

8. (uncountable, slang) Recreational drugs, including steroids.
9. (uncountable, archaic) Stuff.
   • 1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Book III, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 113:

10. (obsolete) Business matters; affairs; concern.
11. (obsolete, UK, dialect) Anything worthless; nonsense; rubbish.
    • March 29, 1549, Hugh Latimer, the fourth sermon preached before King Edward

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Japanese: ギア (gia)

Translations

Verb

gear (third-person singular simple present gears, present participle gearing, simple past and past participle geared)

1. (engineering, transitive) To provide with gearing; to fit with gears in order to achieve a desired gear ratio.
2. (engineering, intransitive) To be in gear, come into gear.
3. To dress; to put gear on; to harness.
4. (usually with to or toward(s)) To design or devise (something) so as to be suitable (for a particular type of person or a particular purpose).

5. (finance) To borrow money in order to invest it in assets.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

gear (comparative more gear, superlative most gear)

1. (chiefly Liverpool) great or fantastic

Anagrams

• Ager, GRAE, Gera, Rega, ager, areg, gare, rage

Manx

Alternative forms

• geayr, geyre

Etymology 1

From Old Irish gáirid.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛːrʲ/

Verb

gear (verbal noun gearey)

1. to laugh, chuckle

Etymology 2

From Middle Irish gér, from Old Irish gér.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡʲeːr/

Adjective

gear

1. sharp, keen
2. sour, acid

Mutation

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “gér”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Old English

Alternative forms

• ġǣr, ġēr — Anglian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *jār, from Proto-Germanic *jērą, from Proto-Indo-European *yeh₁r-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jæ͜ɑːr/

Noun

ġēar n

1. year
   • The Dialogues of Solomon and Saturn

   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Saint Sebastian, Martyr"

2. age, years old (+plural genitive)
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Passion of St. Julian and his Wife Basilissa"

3. (good) harvest
   1. (Runic alphabet) name of the rune ᛄ (j)

Declension

Strong a-stem:

Derived terms

Descendants

• Middle English: yeer, here, yere, ȝere
  • English: year
    • Jamaican Creole: ier
    • Tok Pisin: yia
    • → Chuukese: ier
    • → Japanese: イヤー (iyā)
    • → Volapük: yel
  • Scots: year

Portuguese

Etymology

From an Old Galician-Portuguese *gear (compare geo), from Latin gelāre. Doublet of the borrowing gelar. Compare also Galician xear.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ge‧ar

Verb

gear (impersonal, third-person singular present geia, third-person singular preterite geou, past participle geado)

1. (impersonal) to frost (weather)

Conjugation

Related terms

West Frisian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɪə̯r/

Adverb

gear

1. together

Further reading

• “gear (III)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011