a boxlike enclosure having wires, bars, or the like, for confining and displaying birds or animals.
anything that confines or imprisons; prison.
something resembling a cage in structure, as for a cashier or bank teller.
the car or enclosed platform of an elevator.
Mining. an enclosed platform for raising and lowering people and cars in a mine shaft.
any skeleton framework.
Baseball. a movable backstop for use mainly in batting practice.
a frame with a net attached to it, forming the goal in ice hockey and field hockey.
Basketball: Older Use. the basket.
a loose, sheer or lacy overdress worn with a slip or a close-fitting dress.
Ordnance. a steel framework for supporting guns.
Machinery. retainer1 (def. 3).
verb (used with object),caged,cag·ing.
to put or confine in or as if in a cage.
Sports. to shoot (as a puck) into a cage so as to score a goal.
Origin of cage
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin cavea “birdcage,” equivalent to cav(us) “hollow” + -ea, feminine of -eus adjective suffix
SYNONYMS FOR cage
1 pen, coop, enclosure, pound.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR cage ON THESAURUS.COM
OTHER WORDS FROM cage
cageless,adjectivecagelike,adjectivere·cage,verb (used with object),re·caged,re·cag·ing.
In a later experiment, they showed that animals, when given the choice, actively avoided areas of their cages that, when entered, triggered the activation of the neurons.
Why do you feel lonely? Neuroscience is starting to find answers.|Amy Nordrum|September 4, 2020|MIT Technology Review
The team also analyzed blood levels of the stress hormone cortisol before and after the time spent in the new cage.
Puberty can repair the brain’s stress responses after hardship early in life|Esther Landhuis|August 28, 2020|Science News
Ten weeks later, each monkey was moved with its mother to an unfamiliar cage.
Puberty can repair the brain’s stress responses after hardship early in life|Esther Landhuis|August 28, 2020|Science News
That blood had been collected before, during and after their time in the new cage.
A bit of stress may help young people build resilience|Esther Landhuis|August 27, 2020|Science News For Students
Around the same time, the psychiatrist Cesar Agostini kept dogs in cages rigged with bells that jangled horribly whenever they tried to lie down and sleep, and in the 1920s researchers in Japan did something similar with cages studded with nails.
But you wonder how even the sane keep from losing their minds when you step into a cell—or rather a cage—at Graterford.
Here’s a Reform Even the Koch Brothers and George Soros Can Agree On|Tina Brown|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is empty, the door swung open—perhaps the bird has already flown, or perhaps the cage awaits its next inhabitant.
Sor Juana: Mexico’s Most Erotic Poet and Its Most Dangerous Nun|Katie Baker|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When I first heard about the sport, I assumed that it was a “no holds barred” cage match where pretty much anything goes.
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Two men, literally in a cage, were attacking each other while the pastor and his friends cheered.
Jesus Said Knock You Out: In ‘Fight Church’ Christians Beat Thy Neighbor|Bryan Storkel|September 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Everything in the cage will be programmed from moment to moment.
A ‘Truman Show’ For Today: The Return of Josh Harris|Anthony Haden-Guest|July 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The cage containing the odalisk is raised on a hoisting rope so that it hangs in midair with the doors open.
Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions Including Trick Photography|Albert A. Hopkins
"Jacot," spoke Madelaine, in a low voice, as she raised a corner of the handkerchief which covered the cage.
The Young Emigrants; Madelaine Tube; The Boy and the Book; and Crystal Palace|Susan Anne Livingston Ridley Sedgwick
It was all done in a second; the chandelier fell, the cage opened, and the lioness sprang out.
Peter Simple|Frederick Marryat
Carry home this fearsome green mummy on the leaf; put him in a cage made of wire screen, and watch him.
Trees Every Child Should Know|Julia Ellen Rogers
"In a little while he will get tame so he will follow us around," said Ole, as he cut the wooden bars for the cage.
Mari, Our Little Norwegian Cousin|Mary Hazelton Wade
British Dictionary definitions for cage (1 of 2)
cage
/ (keɪdʒ) /
noun
an enclosure, usually made with bars or wire, for keeping birds, monkeys, mice, etc
(as modifier)cagebird
a thing or place that confines or imprisons
something resembling a cage in function or structurethe rib cage
the enclosed platform of a lift, esp as used in a mine
engineeringa skeleton ring device that ensures that the correct amount of space is maintained between the individual rollers or balls in a rolling bearing
informalthe basket used in basketball
informalthe goal in ice hockey
USa steel framework on which guns are supported
rattle someone's cageinformalto upset or anger someone
verb
(tr)to confine in or as in a cage
Word Origin for cage
C13: from Old French, from Latin cavea enclosure, from cavus hollow
British Dictionary definitions for cage (2 of 2)
Cage
/ (keɪdʒ) /
noun
John. 1912–92, US composer of experimental music for a variety of conventional, modified, or invented instruments. He evolved a type of music apparently undetermined by the composer, such as in Imaginary Landscape (1951) for 12 radio sets. Other works include Reunion (1968), Apartment Building 1776 (1976), and Europeras 3 and 4 (1990)