What is "gage"

Gauge \Gauge\ (g[=a]j), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gauged; p. pr. & vb. n. Gauging] [OF. gaugier, F. jauger, cf. OF. gauge gauge, measuring rod, F. jauge; of uncertain origin; perh. fr. an assumed L. qualificare to determine the qualities of a thing (see Qualify); but cf. also F. jalon a measuring stake in surveying, and E. gallon.] [Written also gage.]

1. To measure or determine with a gauge.

2. To measure or to ascertain the contents or the capacity of, as of a pipe, barrel, or keg.

3. (Mech.) To measure the dimensions of, or to test the accuracy of the form of, as of a part of a gunlock.

   The vanes nicely gauged on each side.
   --Derham.

4. To draw into equidistant gathers by running a thread through it, as cloth or a garment.

5. To measure the capacity, character, or ability of; to estimate; to judge of.

   You shall not gauge me By what we do to-night.
   --Shak.

"a pledge, a pawn, something valuable deposited to insure performance," especially "something thrown down as a token of challenge," c.1300, from Old French gage "pledge (of battle), security, guarantee; pay, reward" (11c.), from Frankish *wadja-, from Proto-Germanic *wadi- (see wed). Italian gaggio, Spanish and Portuguese gage are French loan-words.

c.1400, "to deposit as security," from Old French gager, gagier "to guarantee, promise, pledge, swear; bet, wager; pay," from gage "security, pledge" (see gage (n.)). Related: Gaged; gaging. For the measuring sense, see gauge (v.).\n\n

Etymology 1 n. 1 Something, such as a glove or other pledge, thrown down as a challenge to combat (now usually figurative). 2 (context obsolete English) Something valuable deposited as a guarantee or pledge; security, ransom. vb. 1 (context obsolete English) To give or deposit as a pledge or security; to pawn. 2 (context archaic English) To wager, to bet. 3 To bind by pledge, or security; to engage. Etymology 2

n. (alternative spelling of gauge from=US alternative English) (gloss: a measure, instrument for measuring, etc.) vb. (alternative spelling of gauge from=US alternative English) (gloss: to measure) Etymology 3

n. A subspecies of plum, (taxlink Prunus domestica subsp. italica subspecies noshow=1).

1. n. street names for marijuana [syn: pot, grass, green goddess, dope, weed, sess, sens, smoke, skunk, locoweed, Mary Jane]

2. a measuring instrument for measuring and indicating a quantity such as the thickness of wire or the amount of rain etc. [syn: gauge]

3. v. place a bet on; "Which horse are you backing?"; "I'm betting on the new horse" [syn: bet on, back, stake, game, punt]

Gage may refer to:

Gage is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

In medieval finance, a gage or gage of land was a usufructory pledge of real property. The gage came in two forms:

• the dead gage ( Scots deid wad, French mort-gage, German Zinssatzung); or
• the living gage ( Welsh prid, Fr vif-gage, G Totsatzung).

When a feudal tenant or landlord needed liquid resources, they could pledge their estate in land, as collateral, for a money loan. Since the gaged collateral was typically a piece of real property which generated revenue (e.g. a farm which produced crops, a mill which processed food, a pasture that provided milk or wool, etc.), the lender-gagee received the rents and profits of the land. Under the terms of a living gage, these rents and profits reduced the amount the borrower-gagor owed, while under a dead gage they did not. This meant that if the property was prosperous enough, or the loan small enough, a property in living gage could pay off the debt itself; in other words, it was self-redeeming. On the other hand, with a dead gage, the property's rents and profits did not go toward satisfying the principal, but instead constituted interest on the loan, which made it a form of usury. As a result, dead gages were denounced as immoral/illegal among Catholic theologians.