cage
noun
a boxlike enclosure having wires, bars, or the like, for confining and displaying birds or animals.
cage
1 American
[kayj]
/ keɪdʒ /
noun
-
cages
plural
-
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. retainer.
verb (used with object)
-
cages,
present (3rd person singular)
-
caged,
past participle, past
-
caging
present participle
-
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.
Cage
2
American
[kayj]
/ keɪdʒ /
noun
cage
1
British
/ keɪdʒ /
noun
-
-
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
-
a steel framework on which guns are supported
-
informal to upset or anger someone
verb
Cage
2
British
/ keɪdʒ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cagesimple
-
cagessimple
-
have cagedperfect
-
has cagedperfect
-
am cagingprogressive
-
are cagingprogressive
-
is cagingprogressive
-
have been cagingperfect progressive
-
has been cagingperfect progressive
Past
-
cagedsimple
-
had cagedperfect
-
was cagingprogressive
-
were cagingprogressive
-
had been cagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cage
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin cavea “birdcage,” equivalent to cav(us) “hollow” + -ea, feminine of -eus adjective suffix
Explanation
A cage is a structure that keeps an animal captive. If you decide to raise a tiger in your bedroom, it's best to have a sturdy cage. Cage is equally at home as a noun or verb. For instance, a batting cage is fun, but a free bird does not desire you to cage it. A cage of an elevator is great to ride to the 30th floor, but not so great if you’re riding it down into the mines and it breaks 40 feet below the earth.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In one experiment in 2012, a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology gave mice a mild electric shock in a particular cage.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026
He said he is being barred from ever coaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District again because a student was injured in building the batting cage, an allegation he denies and is appealing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
Bird's nest fungi resemble miniature nests complete with tiny eggs, while the rare red cage fungus forms a vivid crimson lattice structure.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
On a recent Thursday he was inside a black cage stuffed with yellow wires checking a cross-connect cable that links one customer’s operation to another’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
He wrote something on the badge and attached it to the rabbit's cage.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
He offered millions of dollars to big-name talent including Nicolas Cage, who worked about two weeks on the film, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a Nicolas Cage movie that went missing at Netflix last month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
“My agent’s out there somewhere listening,” Cage said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
In Malibu, an enormous sink hole emerged in the driveway of a home belonging to Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage when pounding waves from a nearby hurricane eroded the coastline.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
One of their favorites was Raising Arizona, with Nicolas Cage, which Michael’s mother let him watch even though it was PG-13.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Sales of backyard batting cages, at costs around $25,000, are surging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
“Only that there were cages on both sides.”
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
Five moon bears that spent decades living in cages in South Korea have arrived at their new home in Suffolk.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Detainees at the now-shuttered immigration facility in Florida known as "Alligator Alcatraz" were held at times in metal cages the size of phone booths, according to a new report.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
Mr. Hardy drove past the mini-golf course and batting cages and stopped in front of the entrance to the arcade.
From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Herzog impresses this notion from the very beginning: A dream shared by Joan and Jean, in which the sisters stand in a corridor flanked by caged birds.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
"Wolf of Essex caged" reads the paper's headline.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Her caged parakeet in the upper corner stares back at us, acknowledging our voyeurism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
On a workbench nearby, sea mine-shaped lamps stand on metal casts of hawk feet alongside caged bubble glass lanterns that appear as if they might burst from internal pressure.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
These memories were fading, as was the memory of being caged.
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
"This generation didn't even have enough to eat growing up. Now with a little money, they have inherited the habit and custom of caging birds," he says.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025
Ben Williamson, who works for PeTA, says that the new box shows that people today no longer accept “the chaining and caging of wild animals.”
From NewsForKids.net ● Apr. 23, 2024
One tomb, part of a substantial cemetery surrounding a monastery to the west of Xylotymbou village was being used for caging cats.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2024
Sadly, we appear more interested in caging people than in educating them.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2023
Daylight came in x-patterns through the caging at the windows.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
