Dictionary Home »
Webster's New World College Dictionary » out of gear
out of gear
Variant of gear
gear
definition
gear (gir)
noun
- Obsolete the clothing and equipment of a soldier, knight, etc.
- clothing; apparel
- movable property; esp., apparatus or equipment for some particular task, as a workman's tools, the rigging of a ship, a harness, etc.
- a toothed wheel, disk, etc. designed to mesh with another or with the thread of a worm
- a system of two or more gears meshed together so that the motion of one controls the speed and torque of another
- a specific adjustment of such a system
- any part of a mechanism performing a specific function the steering gear
Etymology: ME gere, prob. < ON gervi, preparation, ornament, akin to OE gearo, yare
adjective
Chiefly Brit., Slang highly acceptable, attractive, etc.
transitive verb
- to furnish with gear; harness
- to adapt (one thing) so as to conform with another to gear production to demand
- Mech.
- to connect by gears
- to furnish with gears
- to put into gear
intransitive verb
Mech. to be in, or come into, proper adjustment or working order
gear Idioms
gear down
to adjust gears so that the driven element goes slower than the driving element, with a consequent increase in torque
gear up
- to adjust gears so that the driven element goes faster than the driving element, with a consequent decrease in torque
- to accelerate; increase efficiency (of) the factory geared up production
high gear
☆- the arrangement of gears providing the greatest speed but little torque
- Informal high speed or efficiency
in (or out of) gear
- (not) connected to the motor
- (not) in proper adjustment or working order
low gear
☆- the arrangement of gears providing little speed but great torque
- Informal low speed or efficiency
reverse gear
the arrangement of gears providing reverse, or backward, motion
shift gears
☆- to change from one gear arrangement to another
- to change one's approach in handling a problem
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Comments
Improve this definition.
Browse dictionary definitions near out of gear
Share on Facebook