gear 1 S3 / ɡɪə $ ɡɪr / 名词

1 in cars etc [可数和不可数名词] the machinery in a vehicle such as a car, truck, or bicycle that you use to go comfortably at different speeds :

His mountain bike had 18 gears.

Andy drove cautiously along in third gear .

Does this thing have a reverse gear ?

Any cyclist can climb a difficult hill; you just change gear .

Don’t turn off the engine while you’re still in gear .

It’s a good habit to take the car out of gear while you’re at a stoplight.

2 [可数和不可数名词] used to talk about the amount of effort and energy that someone is using in a situation :

During this period, Japan’s export industries were in top gear (= were as active as they could be ) .

The Republican’s propaganda machine moved into high gear .

step up a gear British English (= increase the level of effort )

United stepped up a gear in the second half.

3 change gear British English , change/switch/shift gears American English to start doing something in a different way, especially using more or less energy or effort :

The boss expects us to be able to change gear just like that.

4 equipment [不可数名词] a set of equipment or tools you need for a particular activity :

He’s crazy about photography – he’s got all the gear.

We’ll need some camping gear.

5 clothes [不可数名词] a set of clothes that you wear for a particular occasion or activity :

Bring your rain gear.

police in riot gear

6 machinery [不可数名词] a piece of machinery that performs a particular job :

the landing gear of a plane

heavy lifting gear

7 drugs [不可数名词] British English informal a word meaning illegal drugs, used by people who take drugs

8 get your ass in gear American English informal used to tell someone to hurry 同义词 move your ass :

You’d better get your ass in gear – you’re late.

COLLOCATIONS

形容词

first/second/third etc gear The heavy traffic meant that we seldom got out of second gear.

a low gear (= first or second gear ) You should use a low gear when going up a hill.

a high gear (= third, fourth, or fifth gear ) Put the car into a higher gear.

top gear British English (= the highest gear ) Hamilton slipped effortlessly into top gear.

bottom gear British English (= the lowest gear ) The car trundled slowly forward in bottom gear.

reverse gear (= for driving backwards ) He put the truck into reverse gear.

动词

change gear ( also switch/shift gears American English ) It takes some time to learn when to change gear.

put the car etc into (first/second/third etc) gear He put the car into gear, and they moved slowly forwards.

engage first/second etc gear (= put the car into gear ) Nick struggled to engage first gear.

be in the wrong gear The straining noises from the engine told him that he was in the wrong gear.

crunch/grind the gears (= change gear in a way that makes an unpleasant noise ) He crunched the gears into reverse.