cage
a boxlike enclosure having wires, bars, or the like, for confining and displaying birds or animals.
anything that confines or imprisons; prison.
something resembling a cage in structure, as for a cashier or bank teller.
the car or enclosed platform of an elevator.
Mining. an enclosed platform for raising and lowering people and cars in a mine shaft.
any skeleton framework.
Baseball. a movable backstop for use mainly in batting practice.
a frame with a net attached to it, forming the goal in ice hockey and field hockey.
Basketball: Older Use. the basket.
a loose, sheer or lacy overdress worn with a slip or a close-fitting dress.
Ordnance. a steel framework for supporting guns.
Machinery. retainer1 (def. 3).
to put or confine in or as if in a cage.
Sports. to shoot (as a puck) into a cage so as to score a goal.
Origin of cage
1Other words for cage
Other words from cage
- cageless, adjective
- cagelike, adjective
- re·cage, verb (used with object), re·caged, re·cag·ing.
Other definitions for Cage (2 of 2)
John, 1912–1992, U.S. composer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cage in a sentence
Egg-laying hens are placed in cages to unnaturally churn out egg after egg.
The History of the Chicken: How This Humble Bird Saved Humanity | William O’Connor | December 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAriana Grande, leader of men and breaker of chains, makes quick work of the sad cages and frees her friends.
Ariana Grande’s Gay-Friendly Intergalactic Dance Party | Amy Zimmerman | August 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThese exotic animals are kept in small cages and bred over and over again.
Rather, the hope is to rattle the cages a bit and make sure that the leadership of the Senate reflects the energy in the ranks.
In that rough-and-tumble era, wire cages surrounded many basketball courts to protect spectators from the players, and visa versa.
At long last one of the keepers at the entrance to the small cages begins to shout very loudly.
He moved swiftly down behind the empty cages toward Eckland's, walking on his toes.
You love to dwell in square cages, and wear smooth shiny clothes.
The Dragon Painter | Mary McNeil FenollosaThis night comes two cages, which I bought this evening for my canary birds, which Captain Rooth this day sent me.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete | Samuel PepysA door was opened in one of the unplaced cages and the little bears pushed out into a new world.
David Lannarck, Midget | George S. Harney
British Dictionary definitions for cage (1 of 2)
/ (keɪdʒ) /
an enclosure, usually made with bars or wire, for keeping birds, monkeys, mice, etc
(as modifier): cagebird
a thing or place that confines or imprisons
something resembling a cage in function or structure: the rib cage
the enclosed platform of a lift, esp as used in a mine
engineering a skeleton ring device that ensures that the correct amount of space is maintained between the individual rollers or balls in a rolling bearing
informal the basket used in basketball
informal the goal in ice hockey
US a steel framework on which guns are supported
rattle someone's cage informal to upset or anger someone
(tr) to confine in or as in a cage
Origin of cage
1British Dictionary definitions for Cage (2 of 2)
/ (keɪdʒ) /
John. 1912–92, US composer of experimental music for a variety of conventional, modified, or invented instruments. He evolved a type of music apparently undetermined by the composer, such as in Imaginary Landscape (1951) for 12 radio sets. Other works include Reunion (1968), Apartment Building 1776 (1976), and Europeras 3 and 4 (1990)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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