find another gear

• find a new gear

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find another gear (third-person singular simple present finds another gear, present participle finding another gear, simple past and past participle found another gear)

1. (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”, in New York Times, retrieved 24 October 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 January 29, Courtney Nguyen, “Challenged again, Novak Djokovic finds another gear in Australian Open final”, in Sports Illustrated, retrieved 24 October 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”, in Christian Science Monitor, retrieved 24 October 2015:

     Swimmers talk about finding another gear when they need it.

   • 2014 January 9, “Skiing: Paerson finds top gear to pip Kostelic”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 24 October 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.

2. (idiomatic, by extension) To achieve enhanced performance.
   • 2001 July 8, Frank Gibney Jr., “Hyundai In High Gear”, in Time, retrieved 24 October 2015:

     Management's ultimate goal is to become one of the world's top five automakers. That will require finding another gear.

   • 2010 November 17, Steve Marsi, “NCIS Review: "Enemies Foreign"”, in TV Fanatic, retrieved 24 October 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.

• another string to one's bow
• second wind