Geared

How to spell geared

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce geared

What does geared mean?

1. verbDesigned, adjusted, or organised to suit a particular purpose or group.
2. verbFitted or configured with gears, often to favour a particular kind of performance.

Geared in a sentence

• The evening course is geared towards working professionals.

• The touring bike is geared low for long, steep climbs.

• The whole marketing campaign is geared to younger buyers.

• The truck is geared for hauling heavy loads at low speed.

Where does geared come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The base word 'gear' comes from Old Norse 'gervi' (also 'gorvi'), meaning equipment, gear, or apparatus, which entered northern English dialects during the period of Norse settlement. The underlying sense was anything that prepares or equips a person for a task, including clothing, tools, and harness. Over the medieval period the meaning narrowed in the mechanical world to the toothed wheels that transmit motion in a machine, so a bicycle or car could be described by its 'gears'. From this came the verb 'to gear', meaning to fit with gears or, more figuratively, to adjust and prepare something for a particular purpose. The form 'geared' is simply that verb with the regular '-ed' ending, and the steady 'ear' spelling reflects the long history of the noun behind it.

How the word is built

• gear (equipment, mechanism)
• -ed (past tense / adjectival suffix)