go through the gears
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To progress or advance through a series of stages or levels
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
tiến bộ hoặc phát triển qua các giai đoạn hoặc cấp độ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: shift through mechanical gears
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The new employee went through the gears quickly, becoming a team leader in a year
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “go through the gears” mean?
To progress or advance through a series of stages or levels Literally: shift through mechanical gears
Is “go through the gears” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.