Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Cage

//keɪd͡ʒ// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname from French.
Noun
  1. 1
    An enclosure made of bars, normally to hold animals.

    "We keep a bird in a cage."

  2. 2
    a movable screen placed behind home base to catch balls during batting practice wordnet
  3. 3
    The passenger compartment of a lift.
  4. 4
    an enclosure made or wire or metal bars in which birds or animals can be kept wordnet
  5. 5
    The goal.
Show 13 more definitions
  1. 6
    the net that is the goal in ice hockey wordnet
  2. 7
    An automobile. US, derogatory, slang
  3. 8
    something that restricts freedom as a cage restricts movement wordnet
  4. 9
    Something that hinders freedom. figuratively

    "Schwartz examines with dignity and tenderness the battles within and without of […] families, created and biological, and the cages and freedom they can provide."

  5. 10
    A prison or prison cell. slang

    "The 'out of the closet' lesbians and gay men here in the Iowa Cages are harassed and discriminated daily by oppressive pigs, believe me, I know, as a lesbian I've experienced it first hand and seen my fellow lesbian and gay friends oppressed to where I'm ready to explode."

  6. 11
    The area from which competitors throw a discus or hammer.
  7. 12
    An outer framework of timber, enclosing something within it.

    "Cage, in carpentry, is an outer work of timber inclosing another within it. Thus the cage of a stair is the wooden inclosure that encircles it."

  8. 13
    A skeleton frame to limit the motion of a loose piece, such as a ball valve.
  9. 14
    A wirework strainer, used in connection with pumps and pipes.
  10. 15
    The drum on which the rope is wound in a hoisting whim.
  11. 16
    The protective wire mask at the front of a helmet.
  12. 17
    A regular graph that has as few vertices as possible for its girth.
  13. 18
    In killer sudoku puzzles, an irregularly-shaped group of cells that must contain a set of unique digits adding up to a certain total, in addition to the usual constraints of sudoku.
Verb
  1. 1
    To confine in a cage; to put into and keep in a cage. transitive

    "And the row of human captors, ever leering, They who caged me, Know their power and gloat on my captivity."

  2. 2
    confine in a cage wordnet
  3. 3
    To imprison. slang, transitive

    "The serial killer was caged for life."

  4. 4
    To restrict someone's movement or creativity. figuratively, transitive
  5. 5
    To immobilize an artificial horizon.

    "To prevent damage to its gimbal mountings during extreme aerobatic maneuvers, the navball should be caged before the start of a display sequence."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    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.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English cage, from Old French cage, from Latin cavea. Doublet of cadge and cavea and related to jail.

Etymology 2

From Middle English cage, from Old French cage, from Latin cavea. Doublet of cadge and cavea and related to jail.

See also for "cage"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: cage