Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Something deposited or given as security against an obligation; a pledge.
- noun Something, such as a glove, that is offered or thrown down as a pledge or challenge to fight.
- noun A challenge.
- transitive verb To pledge as security.
- transitive verb To offer as a stake in a bet; wager.
- noun Any of several varieties of plum, such as the greengage.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To pledge, pawn, or stake; give or deposit as a gage or security; wage or wager.
- To bind by pledge, caution, or security; engage.
- noun A pledge or pawn; a movable chattel laid down or given as security for the performance of some act or the fulfilment of some condition.
- noun The act of pledging, or the state of being pledged; pawn; security.
- noun Anything thrown down as a token of challenge to combat; hence, challenge.
- To measure the content or capacity of, as a vessel; more generally, to ascertain by test or measurement the capacity, dimensions, proportions, quantity, amount, or force of; measure or ascertain by measurement: as, to
gage a barrel or other receptacle (seegaging ); to gage the pressure of steam, or the force of the wind; to gage a stone for cutting it to the proper size. - To measure in respect to capability, power, character, or behavior; take cognizance of the capacity, capability, or power of; appraise; estimate: as, to
gage a person's character very accurately. - In needlework, especially dressmaking, to pucker in parallel rows by means of gathering-threads, either for ornament or to hold the material firmly in place.
- To adjust the proper quantity of water to be used in mixing hydraulic cement.
- noun A pipeful of tobacco.
- noun A name given to several varieties of plum: as, the green gage, golden gage, transparent gage, etc.
- noun A standard of measure; an instrument for determining the dimensions, capacity, quantity, force, etc., of anything; hence, any standard of comparison or estimation; measure in general: as, a gage for the thickness of wires; to take the gage of a man's ability.
- noun Specifically— In the air-pump, an instrument of various forms for indicating the degree of exhaustion in the receiver. The kind most commonly used is the siphon-gage (which see, below).
- noun In joinery, an instrument for striking a line on a board, etc., parallel to its edge, consisting of a square rod with a marker near its end and an adjustable sliding piece for a guide.
- noun In printing, a measure of the length of a page, or a graduated strip of wood, metal, or cardboard for determining the number of lines of type of a certain size in a given space.
- noun In type-founding, a piece of hard wood or polished steel, variously notched, used to adjust the dimensions, slopes, etc., of the various sorts of letters.
- noun Same as
grip , 7. (See also caliber-gage, center-gage, gaging-rod, pressure-gage, rain-gage, steam-gage, wind-gage, and phrases below.) - noun A standard or determinate dimension, quantity, or amount; a fixed or standard measurement.
- noun Nautical: The depth to which a vessel sinks in the water.
- noun The position of a ship with reference to another vessel and to the wind. When to the windward she is said to have the weather-gage; when to the leeward, the lee-gage.
- noun A quart pot.
- noun An instrument for measuring the diameter of the bore of a cannon at any part of its length. It consists of a graduated brass tube having at one end a head from which radiate two fixed and two movable steel points. A slider in the graduated tube pushes outward the movable points as may be necessary.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A variety of plum
- transitive verb obsolete To give or deposit as a pledge or security for some act; to wage or wager; to pawn or pledge.
- transitive verb To bind by pledge, or security; to engage.
- noun A measure or standard. See
gauge , n. - noun A pledge or pawn; something laid down or given as a security for the performance of some act by the person depositing it, and forfeited by nonperformance; security.
- noun A glove, cap, or the like, cast on the ground as a challenge to combat, and to be taken up by the accepter of the challenge; a challenge; a defiance.
- transitive verb To measure. See
gauge , v. t.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb Alternative spelling of
gauge . Tomeasure . - verb obsolete To give or deposit as a
pledge orsecurity ; topawn - verb archaic To
wager , tobet . - noun Something, such as a
glove or otherpledge thrown down as a challenge to combat (now usually figurative). - noun Alternative spelling of
gauge . Used especially as a technical term of measuring devices and standard measures. - noun A form of jewelry which creates a hole of variable size in the earlobe, popular especially among some young people in the West, perhaps on analogy with similar devices found in various non-Western indigenous cultures.
- noun A short form of
greengage . - noun obsolete Something valuable deposited as a
guarantee orpledge ;security ,ransom .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun street names for marijuana
- verb place a bet on
- noun a measuring instrument for measuring and indicating a quantity such as the thickness of wire or the amount of rain etc.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word gage.
Examples
-
This paper discusses how thin gage silicon iron is beneficial, explains the theory in lay terms and shows the reader how to estimate an optimum lamination thickness.
Sustainable Design Update » Blog Archive » Super Efficient Motors 2009
-
Motors, generators, transformers and inductors are being designed to be more energy efficient by utilizing thin gage silicon-iron.
Sustainable Design Update » Blog Archive » Super Efficient Motors 2009
-
Some old and many new applications use the advantages of thin gage laminations, both oriented and non-oriented.
Sustainable Design Update » Blog Archive » Super Efficient Motors 2009
-
My gage is probably a bit looser than called for, but rather than trying to hunt down more yarn in the same dye lot, I’m thinking about just leaving out the last two repeats on the other side.
-
My gage is probably a bit looser than called for, but rather than trying to hunt down more yarn in the same dye lot, I’m thinking about just leaving out the last two repeats on the other side.
-
My gage is probably a bit looser than called for, but rather than trying to hunt down more yarn in the same dye lot, I’m thinking about just leaving out the last two repeats on the other side.
-
That said, there’s no way the PS3 will bomb, it might not sell very well but it’s hardly going to be an n-gage is it. james
-
[1] This successful attempt of the English fleet to manoeuvre for the weather gage, that is to secure a position to the windward of their opponents, is the first recorded instance of what became the favourite tactics of British admirals.
The History of England From the Accession of Henry III. to the Death of Edward III. (1216-1377) Reginald Lane Poole 1892
-
The YTMND community was so out - used appropriately, it may have the ability to en - raged that they started a meme of mashups called gage a core group of supporters, who will share the NEDM (not even Doom music) to humiliate both messages they create with countless networks and the American teenager and the man who originally possibly even convince people who may have never posted the footage.
Recently Uploaded Slideshows lauritalonso 2010
-
Black faces, white tablecloth, gleaming very sharp knives lined up by the saucers ... tobacco and "gage" smoke richly blended, eye-reddening and tart as wine, yowzah gwine smoke a little ob dis hyah sheeit gib de wrinkles in mah brain a process! straighten 'em all raht out, sho nuf!
Gravity's Rainbow Pynchon, Thomas 1978
ruzuzu commented on the word gage
To pledge.
May 24, 2010
sydferret commented on the word gage
from Louis Armstrong's autobiography:
Speaking of 1931 - we did call ourselves Vipers, which could have been anybody from all walks of life that smoked and respected gage. That was our cute little name for marijuana, and it was a misdemeanor in those days. Much different from the pressure and charges the law lays on a guy who smokes pot - a later name for the same thing which is cute to hear nowadays. We always looked at pot as a sort of medicine, a cheap drunk and with much better thoughts than one that's full of liquor. But with the penalties that came, I for one had to put it down though the respect for it (gage) will stay with me forever. I have every reason to say these words and am proud to say them. From experience.
April 3, 2011