high gear
13
3.7
- noun
- /haɪ ɡɪr/
:
marcha alta
- The car accelerated quickly once I shifted into high gear.
Examples
-
And it just went into high gear.
Fiction book (1991) -
We really gotta kick it into high gear.
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We need to kick it into high gear.
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Put it in high gear.
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Once we get a cash advance, we'd be in high gear.
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And all your protective instinct just kicks into high gear.
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And I'll finally get a chance to tell Mr. Endicott my idea for the paper, and that will kick my career into a high gear.
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It's when summer begins and poolside fun, grilling, and travel kick into high gear.
Blog text (13) -
By nightfall, the party's kicked into high gear.
Fiction book (1993) -
So the field organizers wanted to kick into high gear and get ready for EGOTV ("early get out the vote").
Blog text (17)
Synonyms
25
6.7
A vehicle gear that gives the most speed for the engine
4
6.5
A gear in a car that lets it go faster using less engine power
1
3.8
A time when someone works at their highest speed or energy
Antonyms
2
3.2
A lower setting in a vehicle that gives more power and less speed for starting and climbing
How Fast
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a gear allowing the highest speed' is directly derivable from combining 'high' (indicating greater degree or level) with 'gear' (a vehicle transmission gear). This is a straightforward adjective + noun composition following regular English semantics and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
High gear comes from cars and bicycles. When you shift into high gear, each turn of the engine or pedal makes the wheels go farther, so the vehicle moves faster. That's why 'high gear' means the fastest setting.