From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishchange gearchange gearBritish English, change/switch/shift gears American EnglishCHANGE/MAKE something DIFFERENT to start doing something in a different way, especially using more or less energy or effort The boss expects us to be able to change gear just like that. → gear
Examples from the Corpus
change gear• Russ Armstrong, a Middlesbrough motorcycle dealer, has also changed gear after 18 years of the road racing power game.• They saw Jekub roll backwards, change gear with a roar, and attack the truck again.• Any cyclist can climb a difficult hill: you just change gear.• We must now change gear somewhat, and ask what it would take for such relationships to be treated as satisfactory explanations.• Every ten minutes or so she would hear the tortured scream of the transmission and randomly change gears.• You need to be able to move swiftly, changing gears and learning new skills without complaining.• Mark's idea of getting her to change gear was to slip on a nurse's uniform.• Volkov changed gear and increased his speed. 