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

"Allowing an independent person come and look and see is important to be able to gauge that," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Anyone looking for empirical data to help gauge what’s at stake in this transaction would be well-advised to start there.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

However, at those specialty jewelers specifically, unit sales — a gauge of the actual number of items sold — are down 8.5% overall so far this year, according to data from the firm.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

Prices excluding food and energy—the so-called core that economists watch to help gauge underlying price trends—were up 2.4% from a year earlier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Most of the time people ignored their gut gauge, and most of the time it was okay to ignore it, until the one time it wasn’t okay.

From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith

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

The Indonesian central bank kept its benchmark seven-day reverse repo rate unchanged at 5.75%, as the rupiah stabilizes and it gauges the impact of prior interest-rate hikes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 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

Since then, the market has flashed several bullish signals, while some sentiment gauges have shown signs of improvement.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

The gauges, this time, registered almost nothing: only a feeble and momentary tremor.

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

Demand at the German auction will be gauged for signs of weakness after some “technically uncovered” German auctions recently.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 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

Raymond Clayborn returned a touchdown ninety-five yards for a score in that game, indicating that when it came to football, Darrell Royal had shrewdly gauged the ex- pendability of Joe Bob Bizzell.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

The British social attitude survey, carried out by the National Centre for Social Research, has been gauging public opinion since 1983.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 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

Sitting in the center of the room, personally overseeing the tryouts, Wembanyama conducted a series of unusually loud job interviews—listening to chants, gauging volume and pressure-testing die-hard levels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 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