cage

1 of 2

noun

1
: a box or enclosure having some openwork for confining or carrying animals (such as birds)
2
a
: a barred cell for confining prisoners
b
: a fenced area for prisoners of war
3
: a framework serving as support
the steel cage of a skyscraper
4
a
: an enclosure resembling a cage in form or purpose
a cashier's cage
b
: 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
5
b
: a goal consisting of posts or a frame with a net attached (as in ice hockey)
6
: a large building containing an area for practicing outdoor sports and often adapted for indoor events
cageful noun

cage

2 of 2

verb

caged; caging

transitive verb

1
: to confine or keep in or as if in a cage
2
: to drive (a puck, a shot, etc.) into a cage and score a goal

Examples of cage in a Sentence

Noun the dogs and cats at the animal shelter looked so sad in their cages Verb caged the rabbit at night so she wouldn't wake everyone up
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Three of the park's four monkeys had escaped after vandals cut a hole overnight in the wire cage using pliers. Claire Reid, Journal Sentinel, 12 Mar. 2024 Farther down the hall from the small birds is the raptors’ room, which on this particular day was home to a partridge, a crow, a buzzard, an owl and a greenfinch — all kept in separate, locker-sized cages. Jess McHugh, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2024 Believing the caller, the employee gathered the cash from the casino cage, put it into a large handbag and drove it from the Hartford casino nearly 85 miles to Gary, Indiana, according to the complaint. Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 8 Mar. 2024 Life in a cage on a concrete floor prevented Mark from enjoying natural bear behaviors like foraging for food and hibernation. Kelli Bender, Peoplemag, 28 Feb. 2024 At the end of January 2023, the North Central shelter had 228 dogs and 223 kennels or cages. Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2024 With its three teardrop cages, it is guaranteed to make a statement in your home. Anna Smoot, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2024 In a tiger vs bear cage match where neither could escape, the tiger would probably kill the bear and eat him. Matthew Every, Field & Stream, 21 Feb. 2024 The tourbillon cage sits proudly at 6 o’clock and the self-winding movement (caliber 2160) can also be spotted through the openworked caseback. Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 26 Feb. 2024
Verb
To cage a wild animal is a sin, to tame him is divine. Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 27 Feb. 2024 Hefner kept two pet lovebirds caged in his bathroom, but several died, said BuzzFeed. Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week Uk, theweek, 30 Jan. 2024 In the late 1960s, big auto makers welcomed caged robotic arms (not safe for people to be around), stirring more innovations under the rubric of advanced manufacturing. Rich Blake, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2023 Fashioned by a woodcarver (David Bradley) grieving over the loss of his child, the little wooden puppet (Gregory Mann) is a rambunctious, willful lad who refuses to be caged or silenced. Danny Horn, EW.com, 31 Jan. 2024 In the video, submitted as evidence in the court case and viewed by Fortune, Kry, dressed in a blue gingham shirt and sunglasses, watches as workers unload caged monkeys from the back of a pickup truck at the Cambodian breeding facility. Erika Fry, Fortune, 27 Jan. 2024 Sitting at a cold steel table in the day room of this detention center evokes vivid memories of my troublesome teenage years spent caged within the criminal justice system. Marcus Lilly, Baltimore Sun, 8 Jan. 2024 The chain-link fence caging the property symbolized Livia’s chilly, repellent nature. Anna Kodé, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2024 The United States should therefore use the Middle East’s new order to cage Iran’s ambitions, instead of trying in vain to create an anti-Tehran alliance. Maria Fantappie and Vali Nasr, Foreign Affairs, 20 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French, going back to Latin cavea "enclosure for poultry, cage, auditorium of a theater," of uncertain origin

Note: Latin cavea is usually taken to be a noun derivative of an unattested adjective *caveus, from cavus "hollow, concave" (see cave entry 1, hole entry 1), the sense "something hollow, cavity" being extended to "enclosed space" and then "enclosure"; however, -eus is normally a denominal suffix meaning "made of" (see -eous), so that the resulting sense of the derivative is not clear. Perhaps of relevance is the suffix of alveus "trough, hull, channel" (see alveolus).

Verb

derivative of cage entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1577, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of cage was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near cage

Cite this Entry

“Cage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cage. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

cage

1 of 2 noun
1
: an enclosure that has large openings covered usually with wire net or bars and is used for keeping animals or birds
2
: an enclosure like a cage in form or purpose
cageful noun

cage

2 of 2 verb
caged; caging
: to put or keep in or as if in a cage

Medical Definition

cage

noun
: 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

Biographical Definition

Cage

biographical name

John Milton 1912–1992 American composer

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