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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

gear.

Equipment or paraphernalia, especially that used for an athletic endeavor.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɡɪə/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/ɡɪː/British, Southern, Standard/ˈɡɪjə/British, Southern, Standard/ɡiə/New-Zealand
  1. Equipment or paraphernalia, especially that used for an athletic endeavor.

    uncountable
  2. Clothing; garments.

    countable · uncountable
  3. Goods; property; household items.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  4. A wheel, wheel segment, or bar with grooves (teeth) engraved on the outer circumference, such that two such devices can interlock and convey motion from one to the other.

    countable
  5. A particular combination or choice of interlocking gears, such that a particular gear ratio is achieved; often selected via a shifter.

    countable
  6. A particular combination or choice of interlocking gears, such that a particular gear ratio is achieved; often selected via a shifter. A configuration of the transmission of a motor car so as to achieve a particular ratio of engine to axle torque.

    countable
  7. Ellipsis of landing gear.

    abbreviation · alt-of · countable · ellipsis · uncountable
    gear-up landing
    Get the gear down quick!
  8. Recreational drugs, including steroids.

    slang · uncountable
    getting on gear
  9. Stuff.

    archaic · uncountable
  10. Business matters; affairs; concern.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  11. Anything worthless; nonsense; rubbish.

    UK · countable · dialectal · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Germanic *ga- Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₃er-der. Proto-Germanic *arwaz Proto-Germanic *garwaz Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *garwijanąder. Old Norse gervibor. Middle English gere English gear 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.

verb/ɡɪə/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/ɡɪː/British, Southern, Standard/ˈɡɪjə/British, Southern, Standard/ɡiə/New-Zealand
  1. To provide with gearing; to fit with gears in order to achieve a desired gear ratio.

    transitive
  2. To be in gear, come into gear.

    intransitive
  3. To dress; to put gear on; to harness.

  4. To design or devise (something) so as to be suitable (for a particular type of person or a particular purpose).

    usually
    This shop is not really geared towards people of our age.
    They have geared the hotel mainly at tourists.
  5. To borrow money in order to invest it in assets.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Germanic *ga- Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₃er-der. Proto-Germanic *arwaz Proto-Germanic *garwaz Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *garwijanąder. Old Norse gervibor. Middle English gere English gear 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.

adj/ɡɪə/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/ɡɪː/British, Southern, Standard/ˈɡɪjə/British, Southern, Standard/ɡiə/New-Zealand
  1. great or fantastic

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Germanic *ga- Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₃er-der. Proto-Germanic *arwaz Proto-Germanic *garwaz Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *garwijanąder. Old Norse gervibor. Middle English gere English gear 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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.