Word.ws English Dictionary

reverse gear

reverse gear noun: a gear (setting) in a vehicle's transmission which, when selected, makes the vehicle move backward. (Denoted with symbol R on a shifter's labeling.).

Noun

reverse gear (countable and uncountable, plural reverse gears)

  1. A gear (setting) in a vehicle's transmission which, when selected, makes the vehicle move backward. (Denoted with symbol R on a shifter's labeling.)
    • Near-synonym: reversing gear
    • The reverse gear of a Ford Model T was engaged with a foot pedal.
  2. A gear fitted to a machine which allows it to run in the direction opposite to normal operation.
    • Near-synonym: reversing gear
    • This old lathe has a reverse gear, but it wouldn't be used under most conditions, and in fact its use is unsafe under most conditions because the chuck is attached with nothing but a right-hand screw thread!
    Synonyms:
    reversing gear
  3. (figuratively) A backward movement; a retreating from a goal; an undoing progress instead of moving forward.

reverse gear meaning in Tamil and Kannada

reverse gear in Tamil

மாற்றுந்துணைப்பொறி

reverse gear in Kannada

ಹಿಂಚಾಲನ ಗೇರು

Examples of reverse gear in a sentence

  • Reverse gear, air-operated, is incorporated in the transmission.1962 April, “Beyond the Channel: Western Germany: The Henschel 4,000 h.p. V320 diesel”, in Modern Railways, page 274:
  • It's a chance to get transport investment in this country out of reverse gear - a chance to end paper promises.2021 October 6, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Labour: build HS2 and NPR and end "paper promises"”, in RAIL, number 941, page 25:

Synonyms of reverse gear

Forms of reverse gear

pluralreverse gears

Questions about reverse gear

What does reverse gear mean?
Reverse gear means a gear (setting) in a vehicle's transmission which, when selected, makes the vehicle move backward. (Denoted with symbol R on a shifter's labeling.).
What is reverse gear in Tamil?
Reverse gear in Tamil is மாற்றுந்துணைப்பொறி. See Reverse gear meaning in Tamil.
How do you use reverse gear in a sentence?
Reverse gear, air-operated, is incorporated in the transmission.
What part of speech is reverse gear?
Reverse gear is a noun.
What is the plural of reverse gear?
The plural of reverse gear is reverse gears.

Words near reverse gear in the dictionary

  1. reverse forecasts
  2. reverse gangbang
  3. reverse gangbanged
  4. reverse gangbanging
  5. reverse gangbangs
  6. reverse gear
  7. reverse gears
  8. reverse genetic
  9. reverse genetics
  10. reverse graffiti
  11. reverse harem

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: reverse gear (page history and authors); reverse gear (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); reverse gear (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: “reverse gear.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reverse_gear. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.