Wage \Wage\, v. 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,
gawadj[=o]n to pledge, akin to E. wed, G. wette a wager. See
Wed, and cf. Gage.]
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
My life I never but as a pawn
To wage against thy enemies. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
To wake and wage a danger profitless. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. To engage in, as a contest, as if by previous gage or
pledge; to carry on, as a war.
[1913 Webster]
[He pondered] which of all his sons was fit
To reign and wage immortal war with wit. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
The two are waging war, and the one triumphs by the
destruction of the other. --I. Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
4. To adventure, or lay out, for hire or reward; to hire out.
[Obs.] "Thou . . . must wage thy works for wealth."
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
5. To put upon wages; to hire; to employ; to pay wages to.
[Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Abundance of treasure which he had in store,
wherewith he might wage soldiers. --Holinshed.
[1913 Webster]
I would have them waged for their labor. --Latimer.
[1913 Webster]
6. (O. Eng. Law) To give security for the performance of.
--Burrill.
[1913 Webster]
To wage battle (O. Eng. Law), to give gage, or security,
for joining in the duellum, or combat. See Wager of
battel, under Wager, n. --Burrill.
To wage one's law (Law), to give security to make one's
law. See Wager of law, under Wager, n.
[1913 Webster]
|