Library / English Dictionary

GAUGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

gage; gauge

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("gauge" is a kind of...):

measuring device; measuring instrument; measuring system (instrument that shows the extent or amount or quantity or degree of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gauge"):

anemometer; wind gage; wind gauge (a gauge for recording the speed and direction of wind)

depth gage; depth gauge (a gauge for measuring the depth of grooves or holes or other concavities)

dipstick (a graduated rod dipped into a container to indicate the fluid level)

gas gage; gas gauge; gasoline gage; gasoline gauge; petrol gage; petrol gauge (gauge that indicates the amount of gasoline left in the gasoline tank of a vehicle)

pressure gage; pressure gauge (gauge for measuring and indicating fluid pressure)

pluviometer; rain gage; rain gauge; udometer (gauge consisting of an instrument to measure the quantity of precipitation)

strain gage; strain gauge (a gauge for measuring strain in a surface)

scribing block; surface gage; surface gauge (gauge consisting of a scriber mounted on an adjustable stand; used to test the accuracy of plane surfaces)

vacuum gage; vacuum gauge (a gauge for indicating negative atmospheric pressure)

water gage; water gauge; water glass (gauge for indicating the level of water in e.g. a tank or boiler or reservoir)

wire gage; wire gauge (gauge for measuring the diameter of wire)

Derivation:

gauge (determine the capacity, volume, or contents of by measurement and calculation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Diameter of a tube or gun barrel

Synonyms:

bore; caliber; calibre; gauge

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("gauge" is a kind of...):

diam; diameter (the length of a straight line passing through the center of a circle and connecting two points on the circumference)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The thickness of wire

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("gauge" is a kind of...):

thickness (the dimension through an object as opposed to its length or width)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The distance between the rails of a railway or between the wheels of a train

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("gauge" is a kind of...):

distance; length (size of the gap between two places)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gauge"):

standard gauge (railroad track having the standard width of 56.5 inches)

narrow gauge (a railroad track (or its width) narrower than the standard 56.5 inches)

broad gauge (a railroad track (or its width) broader than the standard 56.5 inches)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Accepted or approved instance or example of a quantity or quality against which others are judged or measured or compared

Synonyms:

gauge; standard of measurement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Hypernyms ("gauge" is a kind of...):

criterion; measure; standard; touchstone (a basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated)

Derivation:

gauge (measure precisely and against a standard)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mix in specific proportions

Example:

gauge plaster

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "gauge" is one way to...):

blend; coalesce; combine; commingle; conflate; flux; fuse; immix; meld; merge; mix (mix together different elements)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Adapt to a specified measurement

Example:

gauge the instruments

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "gauge" is one way to...):

standardise; standardize (cause to conform to standard or norm)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Measure precisely and against a standard

Example:

the wire is gauged

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "gauge" is one way to...):

measure; quantify (express as a number or measure or quantity)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

gauge (accepted or approved instance or example of a quantity or quality against which others are judged or measured or compared)

Sense 4

Meaning:

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

Example:

I estimate this chicken to weigh three pounds

Synonyms:

approximate; estimate; gauge; guess; judge

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "gauge" is one way to...):

calculate; cipher; compute; cypher; figure; reckon; work out (make a mathematical calculation or computation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "gauge"):

quantise; quantize (approximate (a signal varying continuously in amplitude) by one whose amplitude is restricted to a prescribed set of discrete values)

misgauge (gauge something incorrectly or improperly)

place; put; set (estimate)

give (estimate the duration or outcome of something)

lowball; underestimate (make a deliberately low estimate)

assess (estimate the value of (property) for taxation)

make (calculate as being)

count; reckon (take account of)

truncate (approximate by ignoring all terms beyond a chosen one)

guesstimate (estimate based on a calculation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 5

Meaning:

Determine the capacity, volume, or contents of by measurement and calculation

Example:

gauge the wine barrels

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "gauge" is one way to...):

ascertain; determine; find; find out (establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

gauge (a measuring instrument for measuring and indicating a quantity such as the thickness of wire or the amount of rain etc.)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Rub to a uniform size

Example:

gauge bricks

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "gauge" is one way to...):

rub (move over something with pressure)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Historic observations as far back as the late 1800s gauged the storm to be as large as 25,500 miles on its long axis.

(Jupiter's great red spot is shrinking, NASA)

The process of measuring the extent of crossovers between chromosomes as a gauge of the distance between genes.

(Genetic Linkage Analysis, NCI Thesaurus)

The researchers used a stationary bicycling test to gauge aerobic fitness.

(Exercise May Help Seniors with Word, Memory Problems, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

When people are feeling excited, fearful, or anxious, the electric charge travels faster through the skin, providing an objective way for researchers to gauge social anxiety and other forms of psychological arousal.

(Animals’ presence may ease social anxiety in kids with autism, NIH)

Incommunicative as he was, some time elapsed before I had an opportunity of gauging his mind.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

At this fortuitous viewing angle the canyon is seen edge-on, and at the northern end of the canyon its depth can be easily gauged.

(A ‘Super Grand Canyon’ on Pluto’s Moon Charon, NASA)

The HA stem is less variable than the HA head, the region targeted by current seasonal influenza vaccines and by standard laboratory tests used to gauge a person’s immune response to a particular strain of influenza.

(New study reveals a novel indicator of influenza immunity, National Institutes of Health)

Aylward and Johnston had been engaged in throwing light tufts of grass into the air to gauge the wind force, and a hoarse whisper passed down the ranks from the file-leaders to the men, with scraps of advice and admonition.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They went wholly by holding the irons close to their cheeks, gauging the heat by some secret mental process that Martin admired but could not understand.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

"Plenty of gas," said Tom boisterously. He looked at the gauge. "And if it runs out I can stop at a drug store. You can buy anything at a drug store nowadays."

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)