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

A Wall Street tool used to gauge the odds of a rate hike at the Fed’s July 28 meeting is quite low at just 10%.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

The Trivariate analysts modeled 10,000 possibilities for Micron’s earnings per share through the eventual top then downturn of the AI cycle “to gauge reasonable potential assumptions” for the company’s future earnings power.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026

The true scale of the outbreak -- which is believed to have begun several months before it was detected -- remains difficult to gauge.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

In afternoon European trading on Monday, Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, was above $78 a barrel, while the U.S. oil gauge West Texas Intermediate hovered around $74 a barrel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

I see the concern on their faces as they try to gauge my emotional state.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

But some gauges of momentum-stock performance were doing much worse.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 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

Korea remains one of the cleanest gauges of AI hardware risk appetite, and the signal is clear: AI dip buyers are still here.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

The modality generally lends itself to better fidelity, a measure of accuracy that gauges how closely a quantum operation matches its intended target.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

Out of habit, she gazed up toward the ceiling, as if she might see her father there on his ladder, tinkering with the sprinkler system, the temperature gauges, and the lights.

From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau

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

As investors increasingly search for bottlenecks in the globe-spanning supply chain for AI, gauging whether profits will meet the hype, Micron suggested a worldwide scramble for memory shows no sign of slowing down.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 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

Here, for the first time, I found ways and techniques of gauging meaningfully the effects of American civilization upon the personalities of people.

From "Native Son" by Richard Wright

Related Words

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