Word.ws English Dictionary

angel gear

angel gear noun: the neutral gear when used while a vehicle is moving, especially when it is used to freewheel so as to save fuel or to coast downhill faster than a vehicle can go in gear.

Noun

angel gear (uncountable)

  1. (slang, trucking, heavy industry) The neutral gear when used while a vehicle is moving, especially when it is used to freewheel so as to save fuel or to coast downhill faster than a vehicle can go in gear.
    • Near-synonym: neutral

Synonyms of angel gear

Antonyms

Origin of angel gear

From the notion (1) that one is flying free as the wind as if on angels' wings, and (2) that one's guardian angel had better be on duty because the practice is unsafe. Compare also Jesus clip, Jesus nut, and Jesus bar. Regarding the various synonyms referring to various places or groups of people, see Mexican overdrive § Etymology.

Questions about angel gear

What does angel gear mean?
Angel gear means the neutral gear when used while a vehicle is moving, especially when it is used to freewheel so as to save fuel or to coast downhill faster than a vehicle can go in gear.
What part of speech is angel gear?
Angel gear is a noun.

Words near angel gear in the dictionary

  1. angel fishes
  2. angel food
  3. angel food cake
  4. angel food cakes
  5. angel foods
  6. angel gear
  7. angel hair
  8. angel hat
  9. angel hats
  10. angel insect
  11. angel insects

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: angel gear (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “angel gear.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/angel_gear. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.