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

BBC News spoke to three serving prison governors in England to gauge the state of correctional facilities and how staff are dealing with overcrowding.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

Auto sales for August are due Tuesday, providing another gauge of consumer spending.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

For decades, copper has been viewed primarily as a gauge of global manufacturing conditions and economic health.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

Warsh has stressed his institution's "resolute commitment" to bringing inflation back to target, but has also hinted at changing the measures that the Fed uses to gauge prices.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

He took a deep breath, glancing around the circle to gauge the reaction.

From "The Fighting Ground" by Avi

In Asia, investors await a busy run of manufacturing and services surveys, including official and private gauges from China, Bank of Japan commentary and Australia’s growth data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

One possible long-term remedy might be river level gauges that relay changes to authorities in real-time, giving residents 20-30 minutes of warning, he said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

Some of the week’s economic gauges also painted a concerning picture of the market, including home-builder sentiment, which remains depressed and below the break-even level of 50 since April 2024.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

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 gauges remained inert, and he said to himself, An android response.

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

What makes things even more difficult is that it’s impossible, as of now, to pinpoint the exact time and location of a downpour, even though it can be gauged with marvelous accuracy.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

As far as can be gauged, the Crown Prince's popularity remains high among young Saudis.

From BBC ● May 25, 2026

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 S&P 500 has slid 2.5% in March, while the U.S. bond market, as gauged by the iShares Core U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 12, 2026

I gauged I could be up and down those porch steps, compass in hand, in five seconds.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

Plus, gauging the effectiveness of school phone bans, how the fallen ‘Nostradamus of AI’ got to the top of tech, Nvidia wants to run the world’s robots and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

Kingsley looks at me, gauging if I’ve grasped the heartbreak of the moment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 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