riot gear

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   Special protective clothing and equipment worn by police to control violent crowds.

   Grammar: No plural and no 'a' before it: officers put on riot gear.

   Patterns

   • wear riot gear
   • put on riot gear
   • in riot gear

   The officers were issued riot gear before the march began.

   Television cameras showed lines of police in full riot gear outside the stadium.

   Stores that supply riot gear have seen a rise in orders this year.

2. 2noununcountabletechnical

   The set of items such as shields, helmets and body armor used for crowd control.

   Grammar: Refers to the equipment as a whole; individual pieces are counted separately, e.g. a shield.

   Patterns

   • a piece of riot gear
   • supply riot gear

   The warehouse stores riot gear for several regional forces.

   Each officer checked his riot gear, including helmet and shield, before the shift.

Common combinations

in full riot gear

They stood in full riot gear along the barricade.

put on riot gear

The unit was told to put on riot gear at midnight.

riot gear and shields

The van carried riot gear and shields for forty officers.

issue riot gear

Commanders decided to issue riot gear only if the crowd turned violent.

Synonyms and how they differ

protective equipment

A general term for any safety gear; riot gear is specifically for crowd-control policing.

armor

Covers only the protective clothing, not helmets, shields or batons.

Word family

riot noun

A violent public disturbance by a crowd.

riot police noun

The officers trained and equipped to handle riots.

riotous adjective

Describing wild, noisy or uncontrolled behavior.

Commonly confused: riot gear or right gear?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “riot gear”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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