gauge

American  

[geyj] / geɪdʒ /

especially in technical use, gage

verb (used with object)

• gauges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• gauged,
  past participle,  past
• gauging
  present participle

1. to determine the exact dimensions, capacity, quantity, or force of; measure.

2. to appraise, estimate, or judge.

   Synonyms:

   calculate, value, assess, evaluate

3. to make conformable to a standard.

4. to mark or measure off; delineate.

5. to gradually stretch (a pierced body part, such as the earlobe) by wearing increasingly large objects in the opening.

   I started gauging my ears recently and am having them stretched every two weeks.

6. to prepare or mix (plaster) with a definite proportion of plaster of Paris and mortar.

7. to chip or rub (bricks or stones) to a uniform size or shape.

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noun

• gauges
  plural

1. a standard of measure or measurement.

2. a standard dimension, size, or quantity.

3. any device or instrument for measuring, registering measurements, or testing something, especially for measuring a dimension, quantity, or mechanical accuracy.

   pressure gauge;

   marking gauge.

4. a means of estimating or judging; criterion; test.

5. extent; scope; capacity.

   trying to determine the gauge of his own strength.

6. 1. a plug, stud, or other piece of jewelry worn in a pierced body part in order to stretch it.

      He had a silver and black gauge in his ear, centered in the elongated lobe.

   2. a standard size of such a piercing or piece of jewelry, in a system in which a lower number indicates a larger diameter (often used in combination).

      I recently went from a 10-gauge to an 8-gauge tongue piercing.

      Once you reach a certain gauge, your holes probably won’t shrink down to their original size.

7. Ordnance. a unit of measure of the internal diameter of a shotgun barrel, determined by the number of spherical lead bullets of a diameter equal to that of the bore that are required to make one pound.

   a twelve-gauge shotgun.

8. Railroads. the distance between the inner edges of the heads of the rails in a track, usually 4 feet 8.5 inches (1.4 meters) standard gauge, but sometimes more broad gauge and sometimes less narrow gauge.

9. the distance between a pair of wheels on an axle.

10. the thickness or diameter of various, usually thin, objects, as the thickness of sheet metal or the diameter of a wire or screw.

11. the fineness of a knitted fabric as expressed in loops per every 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters).

    15 denier, 60 gauge stockings.

12. Nautical. the position of one vessel as being to the windward weather gauge or to the leeward lee gauge of another vessel on an approximately parallel course.

13. Building Trades. the portion of the length of a slate, tile, etc., left exposed when laid in place.

14. the amount of plaster of Paris mixed with mortar or common plaster to hasten the set.

gauge British  

/ ɡeɪdʒ /

verb

1. to measure or determine the amount, quantity, size, condition, etc, of

2. to estimate or appraise; judge

3. to check for conformity or bring into conformity with a standard measurement, dimension, etc

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noun

1. a standard measurement, dimension, capacity, or quantity

2. any of various instruments for measuring a quantity

   a pressure gauge

3. any of various devices used to check for conformity with a standard measurement

4. a standard or means for assessing; test; criterion

5. scope, capacity, or extent

6. the diameter of the barrel of a gun, esp a shotgun

7. the thickness of sheet metal or the diameter of wire

8. the distance between the rails of a railway track: in Britain 4 ft 8 1/ 2 in. (1.435 m)

9. the distance between two wheels on the same axle of a vehicle, truck, etc

10. nautical the position of a vessel in relation to the wind and another vessel. One vessel may be windward ( weather gauge ) or leeward ( lee gauge ) of the other

11. the proportion of plaster of Paris added to mortar to accelerate its setting

12. the distance between the nails securing the slates, tiles, etc, of a roof

13. a measure of the fineness of woven or knitted fabric, usually expressed as the number of needles used per inch

14. the width of motion-picture film or magnetic tape

adjective

1. (of a pressure measurement) measured on a pressure gauge that registers zero at atmospheric pressure; above or below atmospheric pressure See also absolute

   5 bar gauge

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misgauge
  verb (used with object)
• regauge
  verb (used with object)
• gaugeable
  adjective
• multigauge
  adjective
• ungauged
  adjective
• gaugeably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• gauges
  plural

Participles

• gauging
  present
• gauged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• gauge
  simple
• gauges
  simple
• have gauged
  perfect
• has gauged
  perfect
• am gauging
  progressive
• are gauging
  progressive
• is gauging
  progressive
• have been gauging
  perfect progressive
• has been gauging
  perfect progressive

Past

• gauged
  simple
• had gauged
  perfect
• was gauging
  progressive
• were gauging
  progressive
• had been gauging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will gauge
  simple
• will have gauged
  perfect
• will be gauging
  progressive
• will have been gauging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of gauge

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Old North French ( French jauge ), from Germanic

Explanation

If you ask your friend, "How do you feel, generally, about loaning your car to people?" your intention might be to gauge his reaction before you flat-out ask if you can borrow his car. To gauge is to measure or test. The verb gauge means to estimate or measure, while the noun gauge is a tool you can use to make such a measurement. If you've ever seen someone check the air pressure in a tire, the instrument she used was called a tire gauge. The thickness, or diameter, of an item like wire (or the barrel of a gun) is another meaning of gauge.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gauge gauges gauged gauging

"Hobby spending is a small amount of overall retail sales, but it's a good gauge of whether consumers have any money leftover in their budgets."

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.3%, but the tech gauge rose 0.4%, fueled by a 19% advance by Lenovo after its results.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

This gauge is based on the difference between the yield on a 5-year Treasury note and its inflation-protected cousin.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

It’s harder to gauge what might have made Anaheim such a national leader, he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

It was a thick needle, a gauge meant for leather, not cloth, but as soon as it was in my hand, I felt instantly better.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

That metric gauges how likely chances are to result in goals, taking into account a range of variables, and Arsenal finished with almost three times the xG total of City.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

The July gauges of factory activity suggest exports will likely remain strong, while domestic demand continues to lag behind, as new export orders held up better than overall new orders, economists said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

So it seems based on UBS’s “theme-o-meter,” which gauges which market themes are rising to the top and the ones sinking to the bottom.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

Their team also installed rain gauges and went into the field each week with advanced laser-imaging technology, known as lidar, to measure and track the cliffs before and after a collapse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

Still the gauges failed to indicate a reaction.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

An Institute of Governmental Studies poll in August gauged interest in the potential candidacy of Newsom and Harris.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2026

The result of the survey, which gauged sentiment of around 2,000 consumers, fell short of a consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, which had expected an improvement to minus 15.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026

I didn't have discussions about the team with committees, but I gauged as much knowledge as I could from every staff member who was working alongside me.

From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025

“Bitcoin is getting slammed because worsening liquidity conditions gauged by financial institution reserves and the increasing use of the standing repo facility together depress speculative activities,” Torres told MarketWatch via email.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 22, 2025

I gauged the distance to the seat and prepared to jump for it.

From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

But there’s also been a slight shift back toward gauging the room for rate cuts.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

An index gauging repayment rates on farm loans fell in the first quarter from a year ago, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which surveys lenders in five Midwestern states.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026

Steyer’s complaint included screenshots of an email sent to Reed’s talent agency by a gubernatorial campaign gauging her interest in producing paid content.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

There are no communications inside the VAR room, no mobile phones, no way of gauging if you've done the right thing.

From BBC ● May 10, 2026

Everyone is dealt four cards, one from each suit: education, income, occupation, and wealth, the four commonly used criteria for gauging class.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Related Words

• appraise
• ascertain
• assess
• calculate
• calibrate
• determine
• evaluate
• guess
• quantify
• take account of
• weigh