cage

KAYJ/keɪd͡ʒ/

19 meanings of cage

1
nouncountable
A space closed in by bars, usually used for keeping animals inside.
Our parrot sleeps in a cage next to the kitchen window.
The hamster climbed all the way to the top of its cage.
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2
verbtransitive
To put an animal or person in a cage and keep them there.
Please don't cage the rabbit all day long.
The workers caged the wild cat before driving it to the vet.
Similarconfine
Oppositefree, release
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3
nounfigurativelycountable
Something that stops a person from being free.
The small town became a cage for him after his friends moved away.
Her fear of flying was a cage that kept her close to home.
Similarprison, trap
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4
verbfigurativelytransitive
To stop someone from moving freely or from being creative.
Too many rules can cage young artists and kill new ideas.
His long illness caged him inside the house all winter.
Similarconstrain, restrict, confine, contain
Oppositefree
5
nouncountable
The part of an elevator that people stand in while it moves.
Six people squeezed into the cage, and the elevator started to go up.
The cage stopped between two floors, and we waited for help.
Similarcar
6
nounslangcountable
A prison, or a small room inside a prison.
He spent two nights in the cage after the bar fight.
After lunch the guards locked him back in his cage.
Similarslammer, clink
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7
verbslangtransitive
To put someone in prison.
If the police catch him, the courts will cage him for years.
They caged the gang leader for twenty years.
Similarjail, imprison
Oppositefree, release
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8
nouncountable
In hockey or water polo, the goal that players try to score in.
She shot the puck right into the cage.
The goalie stayed in front of the cage for the whole game.
Similarnet, goal
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9
nouncountable
A metal wire guard on the front of a helmet that protects the face.
The ball hit the batter's cage, so his face was not hurt.
Young hockey players must wear a helmet with a full cage.
Similarmask
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10
nouncountable
In track and field, the place where athletes stand to throw a discus or hammer.
She stepped into the cage and spun around before throwing the discus.
Only one thrower is allowed in the cage at a time.
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11
nounslangderogatoryUScountable
A rude slang word for a car.
Some guy in a cage cut right in front of my motorcycle.
On rainy days, Dad leaves his bike at home and drives the cage to work.
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12
nouncountable
In killer sudoku, an oddly shaped group of squares whose numbers must all differ and add up to a set total.
This cage adds up to 17, so the two numbers inside it must be 8 and 9.
She filled in the last cage and finished the killer sudoku in ten minutes.
13
nouncountable
A wooden frame built all around something, so the thing sits inside it.
A wooden cage of thick beams surrounded the old staircase.
The builders put a timber cage around the water tank in the attic.
Similarframework
14
nouncountable
An open frame that keeps a loose part, like the ball in a valve, from moving too far.
The ball in the valve can only bounce up until it hits the cage.
The plumber replaced the bent cage inside the pump valve.
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15
nouncountable
A wire screen on a pump or pipe that stops bits of dirt from getting in.
Mud blocked the cage at the bottom of the pipe, so no water came out.
Dad cleans the cage on the pool pump every week.
Similarstrainer
16
nouncountable
In mining, the big drum that the rope winds around on a machine that lifts loads.
The rope wound around the cage as the bucket of rock came up from the mine.
Two horses turned the cage, and the rope slowly lifted the load out of the shaft.
Similardrum
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17
verbtransitive
To lock the instrument in a plane that shows the horizon, so it stays still.
Before the stunt, the pilot had to cage the artificial horizon.
She caged the horizon so the loops would not damage it.
Similarlock
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18
nouncountable
In math, a graph with the same number of links at every point, and the fewest points its shortest loop allows.
In graph theory class, we drew a cage where every point had exactly three links.
Mathematicians still do not know how big some cages must be.
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19
verbtransitive
To track answers to mailings, to build mailing lists or to find voters who do not live at their listed address.
The group tried to cage voters by sending letters and checking which ones came back.
The store cages every reply to its mailers to keep its customer list up to date.
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Practice

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Origin

From Old French cage, which came from the Latin word cavea.