Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

squirrel cage

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a cage containing a cylindrical framework that is rotated by a squirrel or other small animal running inside of it.
  2. any situation that seems to be endlessly without goal or achievement.

Origin of squirrel cage

First recorded in 1815–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for squirrel cage

Historical Examples

  • I thought it was a good deal like sleeping in a squirrel-cage.

    Track's End

    Hayden Carruth

  • And you could call the place the Squirrel-Cage, suggested Bob.

    The Turner Twins

    Ralph Henry Barbour

  • I had given up sleeping in the house, with its squirrel-cage rooms, preferring the soft prairie hay of the barn.

    Track's End

    Hayden Carruth

  • There was great consultation all that day, which ended in Tom Stubbs bringing a squirrel-cage.

  • The squirrel-cage also prevents “hunting” which is one of the common troubles experienced with synchronous motors or converters.

British Dictionary definitions for squirrel cage

squirrel cage

noun
  1. a cage consisting of a cylindrical framework that is made to rotate by a small animal running inside the framework
  2. a repetitive purposeless task, way of life, etc
  3. Also called: squirrel-cage motor electrical engineering the rotor of an induction motor with a cylindrical winding having copper bars around the periphery parallel to the axis
  4. an electric fan with many long narrow blades arranged in parallel so as to form a cylinder about an axis around which they spin
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