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gauge

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A measure; a standard of measure.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

gayj
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɡeɪdʒ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A measure; a standard of measure; an instrument to determine dimensions, distance, or capacity; a standard

  2. A measuring instrument for measuring and indicating a quantity such as the thickness of wire or the amount of rain etc.

  3. An act of measuring.

  4. A thickness of sheet metal or wire designated by any of several numbering schemes, with lower numbers indicating larger size.

  5. An estimate.

  6. A tunnel-like ear piercing consisting of a hollow ring embedded in the lobe.

verb

  1. Judge tentatively or form an estimate of (quantities or time)

  2. transitive

    To appraise the character or ability of; to judge of.

  3. transitive

    To mix (a quantity of ordinary plaster) with a quantity of plaster of Paris.

  4. transitive

    To chip, hew or polish (stones, bricks, etc) to a standard size and/or shape.

  5. transitive

    To measure or determine with a gauge; to measure the capacity of.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A measure; a standard of measure; an instrument to determine dimensions, distance, or capacity; a standard

Used this way, gauge is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Measuring / thickness

rain gaugewire gauge

Instrument

standard gauge

Other combinations

pressure gaugenarrow gaugestrain gaugebroad gaugegauge theory

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • gauge bosonnounCompound term

    A particle that mediates the interaction of two elementary particles.

  • depth gaugenounCompound term

    A gauge for measuring the depth of grooves or holes or other concavities.

  • fuel gaugenounCompound term

    An indicator of the amount of fuel remaining in a vehicle.

  • gas gaugenounCompound term

    Gauge that indicates the amount of gasoline left in the gasoline tank of a vehicle.

  • gasoline gaugenounCompound term

    Gauge that indicates the amount of gasoline left in the gasoline tank of a vehicle.

  • micrometer gaugenounCompound term

    Caliper for measuring small distances.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: measure

gage

verb

Sense: judge tentatively or form an estimate of (quantities

gage

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.