1) machinery in a vehicle that turns engine power (or power on a bicycle) into movement forwards or backwards: be in first gear, reverse gear etc.
2) equipment

Link to present incidents:
The Putin celebrity cult has swung into a higher gear since the annexation of Crimea last year. This weekend, a group of Cossacks in a village near St Petersburg unveiled a monument to Putin, featuring a bronze bust of the Russian leader stylised as a Roman emperor and swathed in a toga.