What does "degear" mean?

To reduce one's debt by selling off assets, especially those that were acquired with borrowed money.

Degear

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Verb

1
To reduce one's debt by selling off assets, especially those that were acquired with borrowed money.
"Rather the reverse, for Bank of Ireland managed to degear the fastest and at the same time push its profitability up second fastest."
2
To calculate the net value of assets after removing both debt and the projected cost of interest on borrowed capital.
"If the project is viable on this degeared basis, then leasing is compared in price with other forms of borrowing available."
3
To remove one's gear (special equipment).
"He may spot jump (aim for a specific target), or water jump (the most dangerous: one is given 15 seconds to degear while in the water), or jump with a partner."
4
To remove or disable the gears (transmission or interlocking gears).
"If locomotive is to be shipped on its own wheels, remove motor brushes or have locomotive degeared, and set brake-cylinder safety valve at from 25 to 30 lb opening pressure, tagging the valve with the opening pressure, and open the dead-engine cock."

"Rather the reverse, for Bank of Ireland managed to degear the fastest and at the same time push its profitability up second fastest."

From de- + gear.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.