degearing

D2E1G2E1A1R1I1N1G2

noun

The process of selling off assets in order to reduce debt.

Scrabble 12

Meanings

verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of degear
noundegearing (uncountable)

alternative de-gearing

  1. uncountableThe process of selling off assets in order to reduce debt.

    This support for Greene & Walker may stem from the duo's past experience as masters of degearing, an unusual quality in a business dominated by its hoarders.

    1975, Stock Exchange Gazette - Volume 31, page 545
    3 more examples

    The reduction in the interest charge from £1.64m to £1.26m in the face of an increase in the average base rate during the period from 11% to 15% reflects the recently instituted policy of degearing under which low-yielding properties are being sold.

    1980, The Estates Gazette - Volume 256, Part 2, page 891

    This is the degearing effect, about which we hear so much. Can the Government guide us on what level of degearing they expect, over what timescale, and what impact they believe it will have on total lending volumes and nominal GDP?

    2008, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords, The Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).: House of Lords official report

    The oil crisis of 1973 (and the 1991 Gulf War and oil crises) caused a destabilizing effect on the whole range of economic activity, bringing in its wake record interest rates, rapid inflation, particularly in construction costs, and periods during which there were falls in the standard of living of the average taxpayer. This resulted in the destructive degearing of industry in general and property owning organisations in particular.

    2014, Anthony Banfield, Stapleton's Real Estate Management Practice, →ISBN

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

degearing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degearing

MLA

“degearing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degearing. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “degearing,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degearing.

Source: degearing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.