cage

[keyj]

noun

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. retainer¹(def 3).

verb (used with object), caged, cag·ing.

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.

Origin of cage

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Latin cavea birdcage, equivalent to cav(us) hollow + -ea, feminine of -eus adj. suffix

Related formscage·less, adjectivecage·like, adjectivere·cage, verb (used with object), re·caged, re·cag·ing.

Synonyms for cage

1. pen, coop, enclosure, pound.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for recage

cage

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 structurethe 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

US a steel framework on which guns are supported

rattle someone's cage informal to upset or anger someone

verb

(tr) to confine in or as in a cage

Word Origin for cage

C13: from Old French, from Latin cavea enclosure, from cavus hollow

Cage

noun

John. 1912–92, US composer of experimental music for a variety of conventional, modified, or invented instruments. He evolved a type of music apparently undetermined by the composer, such as in Imaginary Landscape (1951) for 12 radio sets. Other works include Reunion (1968), Apartment Building 1776 (1976), and Europeras 3 and 4 (1990)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for recage

cage

1570s, from cage (n.). Related: Caged; caging.

cage

early 13c., from Old French cage "cage, prison; retreat, hideout" (12c.), from Latin cavea "hollow place, enclosure for animals, coop, hive, stall, dungeon, spectators' seats in the theater" (cf. Italian gabbia "basket for fowls, coop;" see cave (n.)).