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Dear vs Gear - What's the difference?

dear | gear |

As an adjective dear

is loved; lovable or dear can be severe(ly affected), sore.

As a noun dear

is a very kind, loving person.

As a verb dear

is (obsolete) to endear.

As an adverb dear

is (obsolete) dearly; at a high price.

As a proper noun gear is

feb (february).

dear

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) dere, from (etyl) .

Adjective

(er)
  • Loved; lovable.
  • *
  • *:So this was my future home, I thought!Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
  • Loving, affectionate, heartfelt
  • :
  • Precious to or greatly valued by someone.
  • :
  • High in price; expensive.
  • :
  • A formal way to start (possibly after my ) addressing somebody at the beginning of a letter, memo etc.
  • :
  • A formal way to start (often after my ) addressing somebody one likes or regards kindly.
  • :
  • *, chapter=7
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“A very welcome, kind, useful present, that means to the parish. By the way, Hopkins, let this go no further. We don't want the tale running round that a rich person has arrived. Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing.
  • An ironic way to start (often after my ) addressing an inferior.
  • :
  • (lb) Noble.
  • Derived terms
    * dearly * dear me * dearness

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A very kind, loving person.
  • My cousin is such a dear , always drawing me pictures.
  • A beloved person
  • Synonyms
    * (kind loving person) darling
    Derived terms
    * oh dear * the dear knows

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To endear.
  • (Shelton)

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete) dearly; at a high price
  • * Shakespeare
  • If thou attempt it, it will cost thee dear .

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) dere, from (etyl) . Cognate with the above

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Severe(ly affected), sore
  • Statistics

    *

    gear

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia gear)
  • (uncountable) equipment or paraphernalia, especially that used for an athletic endeavor.
  • Clothing; garments.
  • * Spenser
  • Array thyself in thy most gorgeous gear .
  • (obsolete) Goods; property; household items.
  • (Chaucer)
  • * Robynson (More's Utopia)
  • Homely gear and common ware.
  • (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.
  • (countable) a particular combination or choice of interlocking gears, such that a particular gear ratio is achieved.
  • (countable) A configuration of the transmission of a motor car so as to achieve a particular ratio of engine to axle torque
  • (slang) recreational drugs
  • * 2003 , Marianne Hancock, Looking for Oliver (page 90)
  • Have you got any gear ? Dominic, have you got any acid?
  • (uncountable, archaic) stuff.
  • * 1662 , , Book III, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 113:
  • "When he was digged up, which was in the presence of the Magistracy of the Town, his body was found entire, not at all putrid, no ill smell about him, saving the mustiness of the grave-Clothes, his joynts limber and flexible, as in those that are alive, his skin only flaccid, but a more fresh grown in the room of it, the wound of his throat gaping, but no gear nor corruption in it; there was also observed a Magical mark in the great toe of his right foot, viz. an Excrescency in the form of a Rose."
  • (obsolete) Business matters; affairs; concern.
  • * Spenser
  • Thus go they both together to their gear .
  • (obsolete, UK, dialect) Anything worthless; nonsense; rubbish.
  • (Wright)
  • * Latimer
  • That servant of his that confessed and uttered this gear was an honest man.

    Synonyms

    * cog, cogwheel, gearwheel

    Derived terms

    * change gear * change gears * high gear * gear lever * gear shift * gear up * shift gear * shift gears * up a gear

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (engineering) To provide with gearing; to fit with gears in order to achieve a desired gear ratio.
  • (engineering) To be in, or come into, gear.
  • to dress; to put gear on; to harness.
  • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (mostly British (Scouse) ) great or fantastic
  • Anagrams

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