cage Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an enclosure made or wire or metal bars in which birds or animals can be kept
    coop.
  2. noun something that restricts freedom as a cage restricts movement
  3. noun United States composer of avant-garde music (1912-1992)
    John Cage; John Milton Cage Jr..
  4. noun the net that is the goal in ice hockey
  5. noun a movable screen placed behind home base to catch balls during batting practice
    batting cage.
  6. verb confine in a cage
    cage in.
    • The animal was caged

WordNet

Cage noun
Etymology
F. cage, fr. L. cavea cavity, cage, fr. cavus hollow. Cf. Cave, n., Cajole, Gabion.
Definitions
  1. A box or inclosure, wholly or partly of openwork, in wood or metal, used for confining birds or other animals.
    In his cage, like parrot fine and gay. Cowper.
  2. A place of confinement for malefactors Shak.
    Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage. Lovelace.
  3. (Carp.) An outer framework of timber, inclosing something within it; as the cage of a staircase. Gwilt.
  4. (Mach.) (a) A skeleton frame to limit the motion of a loose piece, as a ball valve. (b) A wirework strainer, used in connection with pumps and pipes.
  5. The box, bucket, or inclosed platform of a lift or elevator; a cagelike structure moving in a shaft.
  6. (Mining) The drum on which the rope is wound in a hoisting whim.
  7. (Baseball) The catcher's wire mask.
Cage intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Caged ; present participle & verbal noun Caging
Definitions
  1. To confine in, or as in, a cage; to shut up or confine. "Caged and starved to death." Cowper.

Webster 1913