gear

▪ I. gear gear ¹ [gɪə ǁ gɪr] noun [uncountable]

1. special equipment or clothing used for a particular purpose:

• We manufacture airplane landing gear and other aerospace parts.

• Police in riot gear (= special clothing that protects them if they are attacked ) stopped demonstrators getting anywhere near the G8 conference.

2. in/​into high/​top gear COMMERCE if an activity moves into high gear, it becomes much more important, and people put more effort into making it succeed:

• The alliance with Mattel is part of Disney's strategy to keep its merchandising efforts in top gear.

3. in/​into low gear COMMERCE if a financial or industrial activity is in low gear, it is not growing, or it is not at a high level:

• The country's economy has been stuck in low gear since 1992.

• Wall Street shifted into low gear (= started working more slowly than usual ) ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.

  [m0] ▪ II. gear gear ² verb [transitive]

1. be geared at/​to/​towards to be designed or organized in a way that is suitable for a particular purpose:

• Fiji's policies are geared towards reducing reliance on sugar exports and tourism.

• Honda's advertisements are geared at consumers who normally prefer buying American cars.

2. be geared to to be connected to something, so that if one thing changes, so does the other:

• They were borrowing large sums that were geared to interest rates that might rise.

• The minimum notice period is geared to the length of time you have been employed.

gear up phrasal verb [intransitive] COMMERCE

to prepare for something that is about to happen, usually something exciting or difficult:

• The Postal Service is gearing up to absorb some of the United Parcels Service business if there's a strike.

gear up for

• The finance house has been gearing up for a major push into investment banking.

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gear UK US /gɪə^r/ noun [U]

► a system or piece of equipment: »

A good place to connect with other consumers is Epinions.com, which posts reviews on all sorts of gadgets and gear.

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computer/electronic/networking gear

► equipment or clothes that are used for a particular activity: »

The workers said they received no protective gear or warnings about the dangers of asbestos.

► INFORMAL the speed at which something happens or is done: »

After a slow start, the leadership campaign suddenly shifted into gear.

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high/low/top gear

● move/step up a gear — Cf. step up a gear