from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Gear \Gear\ (g[=e]r), n. [OE. gere, ger, AS. gearwe clothing,
adornment, armor, fr. gearo, gearu, ready, yare; akin to OHG.
garaw[imac], garw[imac] ornament, dress. See {Yare}, and cf.
{Garb} dress.]
1. Clothing; garments; ornaments.
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Array thyself in thy most gorgeous gear. --Spenser.
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2. Goods; property; household stuff. --Chaucer.
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Homely gear and common ware. --Robynson
(More's
Utopia).
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3. Whatever is prepared for use or wear; manufactured stuff
or material.
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Clad in a vesture of unknown gear. --Spenser.
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4. The harness of horses or cattle; trapping.
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5. Warlike accouterments. [Scot.] --Jamieson.
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6. Manner; custom; behavior. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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7. Business matters; affairs; concern. [Obs.]
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Thus go they both together to their gear. --Spenser.
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8. (Mech.)
(a) A toothed wheel, or cogwheel; as, a spur gear, or a
bevel gear; also, toothed wheels, collectively.
(b) An apparatus for performing a special function;
gearing; as, the feed gear of a lathe.
(c) Engagement of parts with each other; as, in gear; out
of gear.
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9. pl. (Naut.) See 1st {Jeer}
(b) .
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10. Anything worthless; stuff; nonsense; rubbish. [Obs. or
Prov. Eng.] --Wright.
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That servant of his that confessed and uttered this
gear was an honest man. --Latimer.
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{Bever gear}. See {Bevel gear}.
{Core gear}, a mortise gear, or its skeleton. See {Mortise
wheel}, under {Mortise}.
{Expansion gear} (Steam Engine), the arrangement of parts for
cutting off steam at a certain part of the stroke, so as
to leave it to act upon the piston expansively; the
cut-off. See under {Expansion}.
{Feed gear}. See {Feed motion}, under {Feed}, n.
{Gear cutter}, a machine or tool for forming the teeth of
gear wheels by cutting.
{Gear wheel}, any cogwheel.
{Running gear}. See under {Running}.
{To throw in gear} or {To throw out of gear} (Mach.), to
connect or disconnect (wheelwork or couplings, etc.); to
put in, or out of, working relation.
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