Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GAGE, n. [Fr. gage, a pledge, whence gager, to pledge; engager, to engage; G. wagen, to wage, to hazard or risk; wage, a balance; D. waagen, to venture, Sw. våga, Eng. to wage. It seems to be allied to wag, weigh. The primary sense is to throw, to lay, or deposit. If the elements are Bg, Wg, the original French orthography was guage.]

1. A pledge or pawn; something laid down or given as a security for the performance of some act to be done by the person depositing the thing, and which is to be forfeited by non-performance. It is used of a movable thing; not of land or other immovable. There I throw my gage. – Shak.
2. A challenge to combat; that is, a glove, a cap, a gauntlet, or the like, cast on the ground by the challenger, and taken up by the accepter of the challenge. – Encyc.
3. A measure, or rule of measuring; a standard. [See Gauge.] – Young.
4. The number of feet which a ship sinks in the water.
5. Among letter-founders, a piece of hard wood variously notched, used to adjust the dimensions, slopes, &c. of the various sorts of letters. – Encyc.
6. An instrument in joinery made to strike a line parallel to the straight side of a board. – Encyc. A sliding-gage, a tool used by mathematical instrument makers for measuring and setting off distances. – Encyc. Sea-gage, an instrument for finding the depth of the sea. – Encyc. Tide-gage, an instrument for determining the highth of the tides. – Encyc. Wind-gage, an instrument for measuring the force of the wind on any given surface. – Encyc. Weather-gage, the windward side of a ship.