English

Proper noun

Cage

1. A surname​.

Derived terms

• Cagean

English

A cage

Noun

cage ‎(plural cages)

1. an enclosure made of bars, normally to hold animals.

   We keep a bird in a cage.

   The tigers are in a cage to protect the public.

   The most dangerous prisoners are locked away in a cage.

2. the passenger compartment of a lift
3. (field hockey or ice hockey, water polo) the goal.
4. (US derogatory slang) automobile
5. (figuratively) Something that hinders freedom.
6. (athletics) The area from which competitors throw a discus or hammer.
7. (obsolete) A place of confinement for malefactors.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

   • Lovelace

     Stone walls do not a prison make, / Nor iron bars a cage.

8. An outer framework of timber, enclosing something within it.

   the cage of a staircase

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Gwilt to this entry?)

9. (engineering) A skeleton frame to limit the motion of a loose piece, such as a ball valve.
10. A wirework strainer, used in connection with pumps and pipes.
11. (mining) The drum on which the rope is wound in a hoisting whim.
12. (baseball) The catcher's wire mask.
13. (graph theory) A regular graph that has as few vertices as possible for its girth.

Translations

Derived terms

Verb

cage ‎(third-person singular simple present cages, present participle caging, simple past and past participle caged)

1. To put into a cage.
   • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

     Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.

2. To keep in a cage.
3. To track individual responses to direct mail, either (advertising) to maintain and develop mailing lists or (politics) to identify people who are not eligible to vote because they do not reside at the registered addresses.
4. (figuratively) To restrict someone's movement or creativity.

Derived terms

Translations

French

Etymology

From Old French cage, from Latin cavea.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaʒ/

Noun

cage f ‎(plural cages)

1. cage
2. (soccer, colloquial) area, penalty area

Northern Sami

Verb

cage

1. connegative imperative of cahkat