cram vs gear up

cram and gear up both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
cram	No	No	Yes	No
gear up	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, gear up is a hypernym of cram; that is, gear up is a word with a broader meaning than cram:

cram: prepare (students) hastily for an impending exam
gear up: make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc

Other hypernyms of cram include fix, prepare, ready, set, set up.

cram (verb)	gear up (verb)
prepare (students) hastily for an impending exam	make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc
study intensively, as before an exam
crowd or pack to capacity
put something somewhere so that the space is completely filled