n. [ OE. gere, ger, AS. gearwe clothing, adornment, armor, fr. gearo, gearu, ready, yare; akin to OHG. garawī, garwī ornament, dress. See Yare, and cf. Garb dress. ] 1. Clothing; garments; ornaments. [ 1913 Webster ]
Array thyself in thy most gorgeous gear. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]
2. Goods; property; household stuff. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
Homely gear and common ware. Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]
3. Whatever is prepared for use or wear; manufactured stuff or material. [ 1913 Webster ]
Clad in a vesture of unknown gear. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]
4. The harness of horses or cattle; trapping. [ 1913 Webster ]
5. Warlike accouterments. [ Scot. ] Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]
6. Manner; custom; behavior. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
7. Business matters; affairs; concern. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Thus go they both together to their gear. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]
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. [ 1913 Webster ]
9. pl. (Naut.) See 1st Jeer (b). [ 1913 Webster ]
10. Anything worthless; stuff; nonsense; rubbish. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. ] Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]
That servant of his that confessed and uttered this gear was an honest man. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]
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. [ 1913 Webster ]