From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
Pronunciation
Verb
find another gear
( idiomatic , sports ) To suddenly achieve an extra burst of athletic performance , especially after a sustained period of competitive exertion .
1999 March 26, Tarik El-Bashir, "Hockey: The Devils Tighten Their Grip On First ," New York Times (retrieved 24 Oct 2015) :
But the Devils found another gear in the third period and found the energy that had been lacking throughout a sluggish second period.
2012 Jan. 29, Courtney Nguyen, "Challenged again, Novak Djokovic finds another gear in Australian Open final ," Sports Illustrated (retrieved 24 Oct 2015) :
[I]f the 24-year-old Djokovic wants to replicate or even surpass his 2011 results, he'll have to keep finding another gear .
2012 July 30, Mark Sappenfield, "Ryan Lochte finishes fourth as other swimmers steal the Olympic show ," Christian Science Monitor (retrieved 24 Oct 2015) :
Swimmers talk about finding another gear when they need it.
2014 Jan. 9, "Skiing: Paerson finds top gear to pip Kostelic ," Independent (UK) (retrieved 24 Oct 2015) :
Trailing Kostelic by .017 seconds after her first run, Paerson found another gear on her second trip down the deteriorating course to finish with a combined time of 1min 38.65sec—almost a half-second clear of her Croatian rival.
( idiomatic , by extension) To achieve enhanced performance.
2001 July 8, Frank Gibney Jr., "Hyundai In High Gear ," Time (retrieved 24 Oct 2015) :
Management's ultimate goal is to become one of the world's top five automakers. That will require finding another gear .
2010 Nov. 17, Steve Marsi, "NCIS Review: "Enemies Foreign" ," TV Fanatic (retrieved 24 Oct 2015) :
It's amazing that after seven-plus seasons as one of the most consistently compelling shows on TV, NCIS still finds another gear with certain story arcs.
See also