cage
noun
a boxlike enclosure having wires, bars, or the like, for confining and displaying birds or animals.
cage
1 American
[keyj]
/ 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.
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a frame with a net attached to it, forming the goal in ice hockey and field hockey.
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Basketball: Older Use. the basket.
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a loose, sheer or lacy overdress worn with a slip or a close-fitting dress.
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Ordnance. a steel framework for supporting guns.
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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
[keyj]
/ 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:
Just as his digital persona reached its apex, his real-world life was locked in a cage.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
In all, 1,589,577 dozen eggs were covered by the recall, and included both white shell eggs and brown cage free shell eggs under a variety of brand names.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Persistent rain turned torrential and the first two throws of the women's hammer throw slipped from athletes' grip and clattered into the cage as thunder cracked above the arena.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
He was impressed by heavyweight boxer Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine during an Oval Office meeting last month before the Ultimate Fighting Championship cage match at the White House.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
A few hours later, while the exhausted Don Quixote was still asleep, they grabbed him and put him in the cage.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
She also played Jacqueline in the original London cast of La Cage Aux Folles at the London Palladium in 1986.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
It will follow the 2007 film of the same name starring Nicolas Cage, and its follow-up, 2011's Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
However much Ono’s “Sky Piece” comes across as a playful Cage rejoinder, Ono did, the year before in Kyoto, create what could be called a version of “0’00”,” although an actual silent piece.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Nicolas Cage bought a Tyrannosaurus bataar skull at auction in 2007 for $276,000, but later found out it was illegally excavated from Mongolia and had to return it, Cage told “The Hollywood Reporter.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Two men, Robert Chambliss and Charles Cage, had been arrested earlier and charged with illegal possession of dynamite.
From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry
The city is recommending “tamper-resistant steel cages around the units,” locking all exterior ladders and setting up motion-activated security cameras that would immediately notify business owners or landlords about unauthorized rooftop activity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Military vehicles were decked out with antidrone jammers and protective cages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Tom Cruise spends the movie running through New Jersey with two terrified kids while ash drifts through the streets and giant alien war machines scoop humans into dangling metal cages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
Biologists and national park staff wearing masks and gloves set up dozens of small rectangular metal cages on trails outside Ushuaia as night fell.
From Barron's ● May 19, 2026
It’s piled with pigeons in cages, cooing and hopping about.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
We passed a caged dog and saw a puppy on a short leash being loaded into a vehicle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
The wedding industry that’s created demand for everything from caged doves to ceiling flowers finally is turning its attention to men, reminding brides of four important words: It’s his day too.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2026
In the third episode, a challenge requires half of those remaining to be caged while a partner stacks animal skulls into a tower to free them.
From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2026
Liza Hamilton, her apple cheeks flaming red, moved like a caged leopard in front of the stove when Samuel came into the kitchen in the morning.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
"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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
