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Webster 1913 Edition


Wage

Wage

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Waged
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Waging
.]
[OE.
wagen
, OF.
wagier
,
gagier
, to pledge, promise, F.
gager
to wager, lay, bet, fr. LL.
wadium
a pledge; of Teutonic origin; cf. Goth.
wadi
a pledge, ga
wadjōn
to pledge, akin to E.
wed
, G.
wette
a wager. See
Wed
, and cf.
Gage
.]
1.
To pledge; to hazard on the event of a contest; to stake; to bet, to lay; to wager;
as, to
wage
a dollar
.
Hakluyt.
My life I never but as a pawn
To
wage
against thy enemies.
Shakespeare
2.
To expose one’s self to, as a risk; to incur, as a danger; to venture; to hazard.
“Too weak to wage an instant trial with the king.”
Shak.
To wake and
wage
a danger profitless.
Shakespeare
3.
To engage in, as a contest, as if by previous gage or pledge; to carry on, as a war.
[He pondered] which of all his sons was fit
To reign and
wage
immortal war with wit.
Dryden.
The two are
waging
war, and the one triumphs by the destruction of the other.
I. Taylor.
4.
To adventure, or lay out, for hire or reward; to hire out.
[Obs.]
“Thou . . . must wage thy works for wealth.”
Spenser.
5.
To put upon wages; to hire; to employ; to pay wages to.
[Obs.]
Abundance of treasure which he had in store, wherewith he might
wage
soldiers.
Holinshed.
I would have them
waged
for their labor.
Latimer.
6.
(O. Eng. Law)
To give security for the performance of.
Burrill.
To wage battle
(O. Eng. Law)
,
to give gage, or security, for joining in the duellum, or combat. See
Wager of battel
, under
Wager
,
Noun.
Burrill.
To wage one's law
(Law)
,
to give security to make one's law. See
Wager of law
, under
Wager
,
Noun.

Wage

,
Verb.
I.
To bind one's self; to engage.
[Obs.]

Wage

,
Noun.
[OF.
wage
,
gage
, guarantee, engagement. See
Wage
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
That which is staked or ventured; that for which one incurs risk or danger; prize; gage.
[Obs.]
“That warlike wage.”
Spenser.
2.
That for which one labors; meed; reward; stipulated payment for service performed; hire; pay; compensation; – at present generally used in the plural. See
Wages
.
“My day's wage.”
Sir W. Scott.
“At least I earned my wage.”
Thackeray.
“Pay them a wage in advance.”
J. Morley.
“The wages of virtue.”
Tennyson.
By Tom Thumb, a fairy page,
He sent it, and doth him engage,
By promise of a mighty
wage
,
It secretly to carry.
Drayton.
Our praises are our
wages
.
Shakespeare
Existing legislation on the subject of
wages
.
Encyc. Brit.
Wage is used adjectively and as the first part of compounds which are usually self-explaining; as, wage worker, or wage-worker; wage-earner, etc.
Board wages
.
See under 1st
Board
.
Syn. – Hire; reward; stipend; salary; allowance; pay; compensation; remuneration; fruit.

Webster 1828 Edition


Wage

WAGE

, v.t.
1.
To lay; to bet; to throw down as a pledge; to stake; to put at hazard on the event of a contest. Thisis the common popular sense of the word in New England; as, to wage a dollar; to wage a horse.
2.
To venture; to hazard.
To wake and wage a danger profitless.
3.
To make; to begin; to carry on; that is, to go forward or advance to attack, as in invasion or aggression; used in the phrase, to wage war. he waged war with all his enemies.
He ponderd which of all his sons was fit
To reign, and wage immortal war with wit.
4.
To set to hire.
Thou must wage Thy works for wealth. [Not in use.]
5.
To take to hire; to hire for pay; to employ for wages; as eaged soldiers. He was well waged and rewarded.
To wage oness law, to give security to make ones law. The defendent is then to swear that he owes nothing to the plaintiff, and eleven neighbors, called compurgators, are to avow upon their oaths, that they believe in their consciences he has declared the truth. This is called wager of law.

Definition 2024


wäge

wäge

See also: wage, Wage, and wæge

German

Verb

wäge

  1. First-person singular present of wägen.
  2. First-person singular subjunctive I of wägen.
  3. Third-person singular subjunctive I of wägen.
  4. Imperative singular of wägen.