Gear Meaning
/ɡɪə/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounEquipment or paraphernalia, especially that used for an athletic endeavor.
nounClothing; garments.
Sentence Examples
Do you have rain gear with you?
A small gear is missing here.
Want of wit is worse than want of gear.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He packed his climbing ____ for the mountain trip.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Make sure you have all the necessary ____ before you start your hiking trip into the rugged mountains.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Aray thy selfe in her most gorgeous geare"
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 26:
"Those Eastern winters, I can't endure 'em / So every year I pack my gear and come out here till Purim / Rosh Hashanah, I spend in Arizona"
— 1990, “(I'm Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica”, in Tom Lehrer (music), The Remains of Tom Lehrer, performed by Tom Lehrer, published 2000:
"Homely gear and common ware."
— 1551, Thomas More, “(please specify the Internet Archive page)”, in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and Pleasaunt Worke of the Best State of a Publyque Weale, and of the Newe Yle Called Utopia: […], London: […] [Steven Mierdman for] Abraham Vele, […], →OCLC:
""Have you got any gear? Dominic, have you got any acid?" Emma kept running her hands nervously through her hair. "Not LSD, man; that last trip freaked me out.""
— 2003, Marianne Hancock, Looking for Oliver, page 90:
"When he was digged up, which was in the presence of the Magistracy of the Town, his body was found entire, not at all putrid, no ill smell about him, saving the mustiness of the grave-Clothes, his joynts limber and flexible, as in those that are alive, his skin only flaccid, but a more fresh grown in the room of it, the wound of his throat gaping, but no gear nor corruption in it; there was also observed a Magical mark in the great toe of his right foot, viz. an Excrescency in the form of a Rose."
— 1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Book III, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 113
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CEFR Practice Quiz
He packed his climbing ____ for the mountain trip.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Make sure you have all the necessary ____ before you start your hiking trip into the rugged mountains.