▪ I. cage, n.
(keɪdʒ)
Also 5 kage, 6 kaig, cadge.
[a. F. cage (= It. gaggia):—late L. *cavja:—L. cavea hollow, cavity, dungeon, cell, cage, f. cav-us hollow. The phonetic development was as in rage, sage:—L. rabies, *sapius.]
I. Generally and non-technically.
1. A box or place of confinement for birds and other animals (or, in barbarous times, for human beings), made wholly or partly of wire, or with bars of metal or wood, so as to admit air and light, while preventing the creature's escape.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 102 Ase untowe brid ine cage. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 611 Briddes..that men in cages fede. a 1528 Skelton P. Sparowe 324 Was neuer byrde in cage More gentle of corage. 1547 Boorde Introd. Knowl. xxxii. 204 They do kepe in a kaig in the churche a white cocke and a hen. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 500 Lyke a common skold in a Cage. 1649 Lovelace To Althea 156 Stone walls do not a prison make Nor iron bars a cage. 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 74 As nimble as a Squirrel in a Bell-Cage. 1727 Swift Gulliver ii. viii. 162 Kept in cages like tame Canary birds. 1727 Tindal tr. Rapin's Hist. Eng. (1757) III. 319 The Countess of Buquhan..was put into a wooden cage, and placed as a ridiculous sight to the people on the walls of Berwick castle. 1875 Buckland Log-Bk. 198 So we make water cages for our fish. |
2. † a. ‘A prison for petty malefactors’ (J.); a lock-up.
Obs.| c 1500 Lancelot 2767 As cowart thus schamfully to ly Excludit in to cage frome chewalry. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. ii. 56 His Father had neuer a house but the Cage. c 1600 Distr. Emperor v. iii. in O. Pl. (1884) III. 248 May constables to cadges styll comend theym. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 129 A small Timber Structure resembling the Cage of a County Burrough. 1836–7 Dickens Sk. Boz (1850) 248/1 It has..a market-place—a cage—an assembly-room. a 1850 Thackeray Fatal Boots x, I found myself in a cage in Cursitor Street. |
b. A (barbed-wire) camp enclosure for prisoners of war.
colloq.| 1919 Downing Digger Dial. 15 Cage, a prisoner of war compound. 1939 War Illustr. 7 Oct. 102 Polish prisoners are seen in a ‘cage’ to which they have been marched immediately after capture. 1956 A. Crawley Escape from Germany xxvii. 280 Having seen that capture was inevitable..he had..packed three large suitcases..to take..to whatever ‘cage’ he was sent. |
3. fig. That which confines or imprisons.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 5011 Than she gooth to dethes cage. c 1450 J. Capgrave S. Katherine 351 Thus was thy lyf, lady, kepte in cage. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, ccxxxi, Soules enfranchis'd, from the torne-vp Cage Of flesh. 1730 Beveridge Priv. Th. i. 77 The Cage of Flesh, Wherein the Soul is penned. 1854 Brewster More Worlds 72 An immortal soul..imprisoned in a cage of cartilage and of skin. |
4. a. Anything resembling a cage in structure or purpose.
† b. A scaffold, elevated stage or seat.
| a 1400 Cov. Myst. (1841) 162, I am kynge knowyn in kage. Ibid. 166 Heyl, be thou kynge in kage full hye. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 57/2 Cage, catasta. 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 15 Upon the packsaddels [of an elephant], they haue on euery side a little house, or towre, or cage (if you list so to call it) made of wood. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 7, I must vpfill this Osier Cage of ours, With balefull weedes, and precious Iuiced flowers. 1884 Western Daily Press 28 Nov. 7/4 By the term crinolette, we by no means allude to the preposterously ugly and attached ‘cage’ which was formerly tied round the waist. 1887 Pall Mall Budg. 31 Mar. 2 The ludicrous and offensive object known as the ‘cage’ in the Ladies' Gallery of the House of Commons. |
c. = cage-work 2.
| 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. iii. v. (Arb.) 158 Defended by the cages or pauisses of the shyppes and their targettes. |
II. In various technical uses.
5. Mining.
a. ‘A frame with one or more platforms for cars, used in hoisting in a vertical shaft’.
| 1851 J. Hedley Coal-mines 124 Tubs full or empty in the cage. 1855 Leisure Hour 474 We must step into this ‘cage’, which, you perceive, is a kind of vertical railway carriage. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S.C. 249 The rabbit has..no cage with which to haul up the sand he has moved. 1883 Chamb. Jrnl. 733 The Cage, an iron structure open at two sides, fitted into two wooden guides fixed to the sides of the shaft. |
b. The barrel of a whim on which the rope is wound; a drum.
| 1854 Whitney Metal. Wealth U.S. 73 The cage, or drum on which the rope is wound. 1856 W. Bainbridge Law Mines 654 Cage..also, the barrel for a whim-pipe. |
6. A confining framework of various kinds.
a. Carpentry (see
quot.).
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Cage, in carpentry, signifies an outer work of timber, enclosing another within it. In this sense we say, the cage of a windmill. The cage of a stair-case denotes the wooden sides or walls which enclose it. 1876 Gwilt Archit. Gloss. |
b. The framework in which a peal of bells is hung.
| c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon §107 (1810) 108 A cage of four small broken bells. 1872 Ellacombe Bells of Ch. ix. 309 At East Bergholt, Suffolk, there is a ring of five heavy bells..in a cage in the churchyard. |
c. A framework confining a ball-valve within a certain range of motion.
d. A wire guard over the mouth of a pipe, etc., to allow the passage of liquids and prevent that of solids.
e. A cup with a glass bottom and cover, to hold a drop of water containing organisms for microscopic examination.
| 1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 181/1 s.v. Microscope, Capillary cages for containing animalculæ in water. |
7. A vessel formed of iron hoops or bars, to contain burning combustibles (see
quot. 1867).
| 1837 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. II. 171 Those who fish for them [anchovies] go out in boats with a cage of burning charcoal fastened to each boat. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Cage, an iron cage formed of hoops on the top of a pole, and filled with combustibles to blaze for two hours. It is lighted one hour before high-water, and marks an intricate channel navigable for the period it burns. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pock. Bk. v. (ed. 2) 136 The entrances of channels..shall be marked by special buoys with or without staff and globe, or triangle, cage, etc. |
8. Falconry. A frame to carry hawks upon. See
cadge n.1| 1828 Sebright Observ. Hawking 64 The hawks are tied upon the cage as upon a perch. 1875 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports i. iv. i. §3. 291 The oblong cage is four feet six inches by two feet. |
9. (See
quot.)
| 1883 Wood in Sunday Mag. Oct. 628/2 The nest of the squirrel is known in some parts of England by the name of ‘cage’. |
III. 10. attrib. and in
comb., as
cage-bar,
cage-bird,
cage-ful,
cage-maker,
cage-mate,
cage-seller;
cageless adj.;
cage aerial (see
quot. 1926); also
cage-work.
| 1926 S. O. Pearson Dict. Wireless Techn. Terms, *Cage Aerial, an aerial in which a number of component wires are held in position round small star-shaped spreaders or round small hoops in such a manner as to form a ‘cage’. This is done to reduce the high-frequency resistance of the aerial. |
| 1883 Lloyd Ebb & Flow II. 81 Beating their wings in vain against the mocking *cage-bars of necessity. |
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §834 Pigeons and Horses thrive best, if their Houses, and Stables be kept Sweet: And so of *Cage-Birds. |
| 1881 Athenæum 5 Mar. 329/3 A *cageful of common finches. |
| a 1849 J. C. Mangan Poems (1859) 185 The *Cageless Wild-bird. |
| 1693 Lond. Gaz. No. 2837/4 A Germain New Fashion *Cage-maker. |
| 1904 Westm. Gaz. 26 Sept. 10/1 Till he becomes acquainted through the bars with the animals that are in future to be his *cage-mates. 1925 ‘J. Doyle’ Marmosite's Misc. 10 Little David Garnett, a cage-mate of mine. |
| c 1500 Cocke Lorelles B. (1843) 10 Pouche makers, belowfarmes, and *cage sellers. |
▸
Sport (
orig. U.S.).
a. Baseball. More fully
batting cage. A large frame covered with wire mesh or netting forming a structure in which a player stands while practising batting (indoors or outdoors).
| 1884 N.-Y. Times 11 May 5/6 They have had to content themselves with practice at batting in the cage in the gymnasium. 1900 G. Patten Rockspur Nine ii. 23 Some of the boys were already on the buckboard, while others were stowing away bats, cage and body-protector under the seats. 1933 Amer. Boy Sept. 10/1 He saved us the price of a new batting cage by finding some old chicken wire, part of an old baby buggy and recasting it into a serviceable homemade backstop. 1988 J. Hunter & A. Keteyian Catfish 79, I walked into the cage for pregame batting practice around 4:30. 2000 Twist Special No Way! Summer 37/3, I met this girl and wanted to spend my time with her instead of the batting cage. |
b. Esp. in field hockey or ice hockey: the goal;
= goal cage n. at
goal n. Additions.
| 1885 Boston Daily Globe 6 Feb. 4/2 Menard got the first rush, but the ball went to the Brockton cage. 1947 Sun (Baltimore) 8 Nov. 12/2 The visitors tallied for the first time in the opening minutes of the game when Ann Worthington sent a hard shot into the corner of the cage. 1968 J. Proudfoot Pro Hockey 119 The goalkeeper is granted a small protected area in front of his cage. This is called the crease. 2002 Eastern Eye 26 July 77/4 Sohail can unleash his lethal thunderbolts into the opposition's cage at a speed in excess of 80 mph. |
c. Basketball. A barrier of netting surrounding the court (now
hist.). Hence (
attrib.): of or designating the game of basketball itself, as
cage game,
cage team.
| 1898 Trenton (New Jersey) Evening Times 20 Aug. 6/1 Every cage in the [basketball] league will be made with the same dimensions as the Trenton cage. 1907 T. H. Smith Official Basket Ball Guide & Protective Assoc. Rules for 1907–'08 25 The cage game has for the first time been recognized and provided for. 1926 Washington Post 28 Jan. 18/5 The game will be played in the cage.., which insures a maximum amount of action and speed at all times. 1988 Basketball Scene Ann. 98/1 The foremost problem for a non-aligned cage team is that it must play a very demanding slate of opponents. 1997 Des Moines (Iowa) Reg. (Nexis) 14 Oct. (Sports section) 5 Bill, who had also played basketball for the Hoosiers, was drafted as cage coach for the Bulldogs for one season during World War II. |
▪ II. cage, v. (
keɪdʒ)
[f. prec. n.] trans. To confine in, or as in, a cage; to imprison.
| 1577 Harrison England ii. xiv. (1877) 265 To be caged vp as in a coope. 1625 Hart Anat. Ur. i. v. 46 The women are caged vp like linnets. 1805 Southey Madoc in W. vi, They lie..Conquer'd and caged and fetter'd. 1813 Byron Br. Abydos ii. xx, When cities cage us in a social home. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola i. i. 16, I don't stay caged in my shop all day. |
b. To fit as a cage in the shaft of a mine.
| 1860 All Y. Round No. 55. 103 Baskets that would rarely be dangerous if they were caged and supplied with proper guide-rods. |