Meaning & use
lower gear
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A gear setting in a vehicle that gives more pulling power but less speed, such as first or second instead of fourth.
Grammar: Countable; often follows in or into: drive in a lower gear.
Patterns
- in a lower gear
- change into a lower gear
- shift to a lower gear
Put the car in a lower gear before you go down the steep hill.
The cyclist switched to a lower gear to climb the slope.
A lower gear gives the engine more control over the car when it is heavily loaded.
Word forms
| plural | lower gears |
|---|
Common combinations
- shift into a lower gear
- He shifted into a lower gear as the road began to climb.
- drive in a lower gear
- It is safer to drive in a lower gear on icy roads.
- change down to a lower gear
- Change down to a lower gear before the bend.
- use a lower gear
- Use a lower gear when towing a trailer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- low gear
- Low gear usually means first or second gear specifically, while lower gear is a relative term compared with the one you are using.
- first gear
- First gear is the single lowest setting, but a lower gear may be any gear below the current one.
- downshift
- Downshift is the action of moving to a lower gear, not the gear itself.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: lower gear or lower gears?
lower gear vs lower gears
The plural lower gears means several settings below the current one, not the actual equipment called gear in a general sense.
Practice
Before descending a very steep hill, a driver should shift into a ____ to keep better control.
Choose one answer.
A lower gear lets the engine slow the vehicle on a steep descent. A higher gear gives less engine braking and less control.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lower gear”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.