I. ˈkāj noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin cavea cavity, cage, from cavus hollow — more at cave
1. : a box or enclosure having some openwork (as of wires or bars) especially for confining or carrying birds or animals
2.
a. : a barred cell for confining prisoners
b. : a strongly fenced area for prisoners of war
3. : a framework serving as support
the cage of a staircase
the steel cage of a skyscraper
the cage of a field gun
4. : a small enclosing or sheltering structure designed (as by the use of openwork, glass, or windows) to admit air or light or to allow visibility or accessibility from outside
bank teller's cage
as
a. : the car of an elevator
b. : a chapel or chantry in a church formed by partitioning off a section with a screen of open tracery
5. : a drum on which the rope is wound in a hoisting whim
6. : an enclosing or containing screen or strainer: as
a. : a wirework strainer on an intake pipe
b. : a wire shield enclosing electrical apparatus
c. : a revolving drum of wire netting for shaking dust out of furs or cotton
7.
a. : a frame to limit the motion of a loose part (as of a ball valve)
b. : the frame for holding bearings in place around a shaft journal — see roller bearing illustration
8. : cadge
9.
a. : a movable screen placed behind home plate to stop baseballs during batting practice
b. : a goal structure consisting of goalposts or a goal frame with a net attached (as in ice hockey)
c. : a basketball basket
10. : a large building with unobstructed area for practicing outdoor sports and often adapted for indoor events — compare field house
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to place in a cage : confine, shut in, keep in or as if in a cage : enclose in or with a strong structure to prevent escape
cage circus animals
caged birds
2. : to put (as a puck) into a cage and score a goal
3. : to inactivate (a gyroscopic instrument) especially in an airplane (as by means of a control knob)
Synonyms: see enclose
III. noun
1. : a sheer one-piece dress that has no waistline, is often gathered at the neck, and is worn over a close-fitting underdress or slip
2. : an arrangement of atoms or molecules so bonded as to enclose a space in which another atom or ion (as of a metal) can reside