gauge

name

1. A male given name.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English gauge, gaugen, from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French gauger (compare Modern French jauger from Old French jaugier), from gauge (“gauging rod”), from Frankish *galga (“measuring rod, pole”), from Proto-Germanic *galgô (“pole, stake, cross”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“perch, long switch”). Cognate with Old High German galgo, Old Frisian galga, Old English ġealga (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse galgi (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse gelgja (“pole, perch”). Doublet of gallows.

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

   “1780, Edmund Burke, speech at The Guildhall, in Bristol the gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt”

   “The record of philosophy vis-à-vis silence is generally dismal, as good a gauge as any to its overall failure.”

2. An act of measuring.
3. An estimate.
4. Any instrument for ascertaining or regulating the level, state, dimensions or forms of things
5. A thickness of sheet metal or wire designated by any of several numbering schemes, with lower numbers indicating larger size.
6. Ellipsis of track gauge.

   “It was Locke who concisely won the argument for a standardised gauge of 4ft 8½ inches over Brunel's 7ft 0 ¼in preference. […] Today, over 60% of the world's railways use that gauge.”

7. Ellipsis of loading gauge.
8. A semi-norm; a function that assigns a non-negative size to all vectors in a vector space.
9. The number of stitches per inch, centimetre, or other unit of distance.
10. Relative positions of two or more vessels with reference to the wind.

    “A vessel has the weather gauge of another when on the windward side of it, and the lee gauge when on the lee side of it.”

11. The depth to which a vessel sinks in the water.
12. The quantity of plaster of Paris used with common plaster to make it set more quickly.
13. That part of a shingle, slate, or tile, which is exposed to the weather, when laid; also, one course of such shingles, slates, or tiles.
14. A unit of measurement which describes how many spheres of bore diameter of a shotgun can be had from one pound of lead; 12 gauge is roughly equivalent to .75 caliber.
15. A shotgun (synecdoche for 12 gauge shotgun, the most common chambering for combat and hunting shotguns).

    “I'm talking about cocking a gauge in between your eyes.”

    “I'm tryin to find ways to cope / But I ain't fuckin' round with the gauge or a rope”

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

    “Jenni didn't really look as though she fit in with the rest of the girls here, she had a nose piercing and angel bites, her long curly dark brown hair with red highlights was pulled back exposing gauges and many other ear piercings and a tattoo […]”

17. Cannabis.

    “[…] smoking gauge was a new phenomenon to Himes: “When I looked up after turning the corner, all the grimy facades seemed to be a blaze of bright colors, gold, scarlet, blue, green, like an array of peacocks. […]”

    “When we settled, he said, “You've been smoking gauge, haven't you?””

verb

Etymology: From Middle English gauge, gaugen, from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French gauger (compare Modern French jauger from Old French jaugier), from gauge (“gauging rod”), from Frankish *galga (“measuring rod, pole”), from Proto-Germanic *galgô (“pole, stake, cross”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“perch, long switch”). Cognate with Old High German galgo, Old Frisian galga, Old English ġealga (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse galgi (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse gelgja (“pole, perch”). Doublet of gallows.

1. To measure or determine with a gauge; to measure the capacity of.
2. To estimate.
3. To appraise the character or ability of; to judge of.

   “You shall not gauge me / By what we do to-night.”

4. To draw into equidistant gathers by running a thread through it.
5. To mix (a quantity of ordinary plaster) with a quantity of plaster of Paris.
6. To chip, hew or polish (stones, bricks, etc) to a standard size and/or shape.