black box vs gear

black box

noun
  • Any similar device on motor vehicles, such as rail event recorders and ship trip recorders. 

  • A flight recorder; the brightly colored cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders in an aircraft designed to aid in determining the cause of an accident. 

  • A device used in phreaking that prevents the calling party from being billed for the call placed. 

  • A type of theater characterized by a lack of decoration or complex mechanisms. 

  • A theoretical construct or device with known input and output characteristics but unknown method of operation. 

verb
  • To focus on the inputs and outputs without worrying about the internal complexity. 

gear

noun
  • Equipment or paraphernalia, especially that used for an athletic endeavor. 

  • Recreational drugs, including steroids. 

  • Clothing; garments. 

  • A wheel with grooves (teeth) engraved on the outer circumference, such that two such devices can interlock and convey motion from one to the other; a gear wheel. 

  • A configuration of the transmission of a motor car so as to achieve a particular ratio of engine to axle torque. 

  • A particular combination or choice of interlocking gears, such that a particular gear ratio is achieved. 

verb
  • To provide with gearing; to fit with gears in order to achieve a desired gear ratio. 

  • To dress; to put gear on; to harness. 

  • To design or devise (something) so as to be suitable (for a particular type of person or a particular purpose). 

  • To borrow money in order to invest it in assets. 

  • To be in, or come into, gear. 

adj
  • great or fantastic 

How often have the words black box and gear occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )