Gear vs. Wear — What's the Difference?

A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called cogs), which mesh with another toothed part to transmit torque. A gear may also be known informally as a cog.

Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion).

A toothed wheel that works with others to alter the relation between the speed of a driving mechanism (such as the engine of a vehicle) and the speed of the driven parts (the wheels)

To carry or have on one's person as covering, adornment, or protection

Equipment or apparatus that is used for a particular purpose

To carry or have habitually on one's person, especially as an aid

Design or adjust the gears in a machine to give a specified speed or power output

To display in one's appearance

A toothed machine part, such as a wheel or cylinder, that meshes with another toothed part to transmit motion or to change speed or direction.

To bear, carry, or maintain in a particular manner

A complete assembly that performs a specific function in a larger machine.

To fly or display (colors). Used of a ship, jockey, or knight.

A transmission configuration for a specific ratio of engine to axle torque in a motor vehicle.

To damage, diminish, erode, or consume by long or hard use, attrition, or exposure. Often used with away, down, or off

Equipment, such as tools or clothing, used for a particular activity

To produce by constant use, attrition, or exposure

Clothing and accessories

To bring to a specified condition by long use or attrition

Personal belongings, including clothing

To fatigue, weary, or exhaust

The harness for a horse.

(Nautical) To make (a sailing ship) come about with the wind aft.

A ship's rigging.

To last under continual or hard use

A sailor's personal effects.

To last through the passage of time

To equip with gears.

To break down or diminish through use or attrition

To connect by gears.

To pass gradually or tediously

To put into gear.

(Nautical) To come about with stern to windward.

To adjust or adapt so as to make suitable

The act of wearing or the state of being worn; use

To provide with gear; equip.

Clothing, especially of a particular kind or for a particular use. Often used in combination

To come into or be in gear.

Damage resulting from use or age

To shift a transmission

The ability to withstand impairment from use or attrition

To become adjusted so as to fit or blend.

To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, etc.

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

To have or carry on one's person habitually, consistently; or, to maintain in a particular fashion or manner.

Clothing; garments.

To bear or display in one's aspect or appearance.

(obsolete) Goods; property; household items.

To overcome one's reluctance and endure a (previously specified) situation.

(countable) A wheel with grooves (teeth) engraved on the outer circumference, such that two such devices can interlock and convey motion from one to the other; a gear wheel.

To eat away at, erode, diminish, or consume gradually; to cause a gradual deterioration in; to produce (some change) through attrition, exposure, or constant use.

A particular combination or choice of interlocking gears, such that a particular gear ratio is achieved.

To undergo gradual deterioration; become impaired; be reduced or consumed gradually due to any continued process, activity, or use.

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

To exhaust, fatigue, expend, or weary.

(aviation) landing gear

(intransitive) To last or remain durable under hard use or over time; to retain usefulness, value, or desirable qualities under any continued strain or long period of time; sometimes said of a person, regarding the quality of being easy or difficult to tolerate.

Recreational drugs, including steroids.

(in the phrase "wearing on (someone)") To cause annoyance, irritation, fatigue, or weariness near the point of an exhaustion of patience.

Stuff.

To pass slowly, gradually or tediously.

(obsolete) Business matters; affairs; concern.

(nautical) To bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern (as opposed to tacking when the wind is brought around the bow); to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind. Also written "ware". Past: weared, or wore/worn.

Anything worthless; nonsense; rubbish.

To guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion.

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

To defend; protect.

To be in, or come into, gear.

To ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel.

To dress; to put gear on; to harness.

To conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety.

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

(uncountable) (in combination) clothing

(finance) To borrow money in order to invest it in assets.

(uncountable) damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time

Great or fantastic

(uncountable) fashion

Clothing; garments; ornaments.

Same as Weir.

Goods; property; household stuff.

The act of wearing, or the state of being worn; consumption by use; diminution by friction; as, the wear of a garment.

Whatever is prepared for use or wear; manufactured stuff or material.

The thing worn; style of dress; the fashion.

The harness of horses or cattle; trapping.

The result of wearing or use; consumption, diminution, or impairment due to use, friction, or the like; as, the wear of this coat has been good.

Warlike accouterments.

To cause to go about, as a vessel, by putting the helm up, instead of alee as in tacking, so that the vessel's bow is turned away from, and her stern is presented to, the wind, and, as she turns still farther, her sails fill on the other side; to veer.

Manner; custom; behavior.

To carry or bear upon the person; to bear upon one's self, as an article of clothing, decoration, warfare, bondage, etc.; to have appendant to one's body; to have on; as, to wear a coat; to wear a shackle.

Business matters; affairs; concern.

To have or exhibit an appearance of, as an aspect or manner; to bear; as, she wears a smile on her countenance.

A toothed wheel, or cogwheel; as, a spur gear, or a bevel gear; also, toothed wheels, collectively.

To use up by carrying or having upon one's self; hence, to consume by use; to waste; to use up; as, to wear clothes rapidly.

See 1st Jeer (b).

To impair, waste, or diminish, by continual attrition, scraping, percussion, on the like; to consume gradually; to cause to lower or disappear; to spend.

Anything worthless; stuff; nonsense; rubbish.

To cause or make by friction or wasting; as, to wear a channel; to wear a hole.

To dress; to put gear on; to harness.

To form or shape by, or as by, attrition.

To provide with gearing.

To endure or suffer use; to last under employment; to bear the consequences of use, as waste, consumption, or attrition; as, a coat wears well or ill; - hence, sometimes applied to character, qualifications, etc.; as, a man wears well as an acquaintance.

To adapt toward some specific purpose; as, they geared their advertising for maximum effect among teenagers.

To be wasted, consumed, or diminished, by being used; to suffer injury, loss, or extinction by use or time; to decay, or be spent, gradually.

To be in, or come into, gear.

Impairment resulting from long use;

A toothed wheel that engages another toothed mechanism in order to change the speed or direction of transmitted motion

A covering designed to be worn on a person's body

A mechanism for transmitting motion by gears for some specific purpose (as the steering gear of a vehicle)

The act of having on your person as a covering or adornment;

Equipment consisting of miscellaneous articles needed for a particular operation or sport etc.

Be dressed in;

Set the level or character of;

Have on one's person;

Have in one's aspect; wear an expression of one's attitude or personality;

Deteriorate through use or stress;

Have or show an appearance of;

Last and be usable;

Go to pieces;

Exhaust or tire through overuse or great strain or stress;

Put clothing on one's body;