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PlainSpell

gear

UK /ɡɪə/noun, verb, adjective

gear is spelled G-E-A-R: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 29 times per million words in written English, the 3,218th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, gear means “Equipment or paraphernalia, especially that used for an athletic endeavor” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of gear is gears.

How many letters and syllables are in gear?

Letters4: G-E-A-R
Syllables1
In writing29 times per million words; the 3,218th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is gear?

Gear appears 29 times per million words in written English, the 3,218th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce gear?

  • UK /ɡɪə/
  • British /ɡɪː/
  • British /ˈɡɪjə/

Gear has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-gear.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with gear?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gear from its last stressed vowel (/ɪə/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: rage, gare, ager.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of gear

  • gears plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • gearing participle, present
  • geared participle, past
  • more gear comparative
  • most gear superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does gear mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Equipment or paraphernalia, especially that used for an athletic endeavor.

  2. 2

    Clothing; garments.

  3. 3

    obsoleteGoods; property; household items.

  4. 4

    A wheel, wheel segment, or bar with grooves (teeth) engraved on the outer circumference, such that two such devices can interlock and convey motion from one to the other.

    Near-synonyms: (wheel types) cog, cogwheel, gear wheel, gearwheel

  5. 5

    A particular combination or choice of interlocking gears, such that a particular gear ratio is achieved; often selected via a shifter.

  6. 6

    A configuration of the transmission of a motor car so as to achieve a particular ratio of engine to axle torque.

  7. 7

    Ellipsis of landing gear.

    gear-up landing

  8. 8

    slangRecreational drugs, including steroids.

    getting on gear

verb

  1. 1

    To provide with gearing; to fit with gears in order to achieve a desired gear ratio.

  2. 2

    To be in gear, come into gear.

  3. 3

    To dress; to put gear on; to harness.

  4. 4

    To design or devise (something) so as to be suitable (for a particular type of person or a particular purpose).

    This shop is not really geared towards people of our age.

  5. 5

    To borrow money in order to invest it in assets.

adjective

  1. 1

    great or fantastic

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Gear in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpanoplie, matériel, matos (equipment or paraphernalia), engrenage (a particular combination or choice of…), vitesse (motor car transmission), passer ses vitesses (to fit with gears in order to achieve a desired…)
GermanAusrüstung (equipment or paraphernalia), Gang (a particular combination or choice of…), Gangschaltung (motor car transmission), Stoff ((slang) recreational drugs)
Portugueseequipamento (equipment or paraphernalia), marcha, velocidade (a particular combination or choice of…), câmbio (motor car transmission), engrenar (to fit with gears in order to achieve a desired…)
Spanishpertrecho, pertrechos, aparejo, aparejos, apero, aperos (equipment or paraphernalia)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does gear come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after gear