gear up

verb

To prepare for an activity.

“We're gearing ourselves up for a busy week ahead.”

Similar
fixprepareset upreadyset
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbgear up (third-person singular simple present gears up, present participle gearing up, simple past and past participle geared up)

present singular third person gears up · participle present gearing up · participle past geared up · past geared up

  1. idiomaticintransitivereflexiveTo prepare for an activity.

    We're gearing ourselves up for a busy week ahead.

    2 more examples

    The hardware store is gearing up for spring in February with garden supplies and seeds.

    As this issue of RAIL went to press, NR was gearing up to deliver a further £80m of upgrades over the Late May Bank Holiday (May 29-31), across 620 projects.

    2021 June 2, Stefanie Foster, “Network News: £80m upgrades and renewals on Bank Holiday”, in RAIL, number 932, page 23
  2. idiomaticintransitiveTo put on special clothing or equipment.

    The soldiers geared up and loaded onto the assault craft. They would have a forty-five minute ride to the beach.

    2002, E. J. Duck, Heroes on Quads, page 68

Synonyms & antonyms

verbmake ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc

Similar
fixprepareset upreadyset
Broader
changealtermodify
Also see
fixget readypreparereadysetset up

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

gear up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gear%20up

MLA

“gear up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gear%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gear up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gear%20up.

Source: gear up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.