gear

Word: gear

Context Sentence: The gearing of translation to language teaching and learning may partly explain why academia considered it to be of secondary status.

Source: //Contemporary British Society,// Nicholas Abercrombie and Alan Warde

Definition: [transitive] 1) be geared to somebody/something to be organized in a way that is suitable for a particular purpose or situation eg: The typical career pattern was geared to men whose wives didn't work.

2) be geared to do something eg: The course curriculum is geared to span three years.

Here are some more examples of 'geared to' that match definition 1). Notice what kind of nouns can be the subject of this verb, and which can be the object.

What is clear is that **his behaviou**r was geared to //the available audience//. Traditionally, **life insurance policies** have been geared to //either protection or investment//, rarely to both. In the western world **the education system** is geared to //the over-development of left-brain activity// (logic) at the expense of the more mystical right-side. The third point is that **leaflets** can be produced which are specifically tailored to one category of users (including postgraduates and academic staff) or geared to //a particular subject//. But we must make sure **our party and policies** are geared to //Britain's needs in the late 1990s and the new century to come//. She eats, sleeps, and takes exercise when she pleases; **her timetable** may be geared to //the night// rather than the day. Public transport is as elusive as the wildlife and not recommended, besides which **the USA** is geared to //the motorist above all others//. When nearly **all services** are geared to //young males//, young women are inevitably marginalised
 * All activities** in the Festival area are geared to //those club players who play tennis on a regular basis//.

Here are some more examples of 'geared to' that match definition 2). Notice what kind of nouns can be the subject of this verb. Also notice the different forms of the verb after 'to'.

PCBs are so difficult to destroy, that **Rechem's emission-monitoring systems** are geared to //detecting// them on the grounds that if you destroy PCBs you destroy everything. In many of the prisons, **CAB sessions** are geared to //deal// with prisoners' pre-release anxieties and to //explain// how the CAB on the outside will be able to help them when they are released. First lighting condition is **total black-out**, geared to //show// off the lightning flashes of the opening act `storm'.
 * Tory transport policy** is geared to //increasing// competition, //widening// customer choice and, in the long term, //reducing// state subsidy and control over public services.
 * The segregated education system** is geared to //keeping// the majority of black people in subordination, while health and housing conditions are poor and, most importantly, black people have been deprived of political and human rights.
 * The island** is geared to //giving// a big welcome to tourists, especially Brits.
 * The system** is now geared to //be accessed// on-line, typically through a specialist systems house, such as Donovan Data Services (DDS), and the thick weekly two-volume printed reports familiar to all TV buyers and planners for many years are no more.