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.
Shak.
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.
Wag"el (?), n. (Zoöl.) See Waggel.
Wa"gen*boom` (?), n. [D., literally, wagon tree.] (Bot.) A south
African proteaceous tree (Protea grandiflora); also, its tough wood,
used for making wagon wheels.
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Wa"ger (?), n. [OE. wager, wajour, OF. wagiere, or wageure, E. gageure.
See Wage, v. t.]
1. Something deposited, laid, or hazarded on the event of a contest or
an unsettled question; a bet; a stake; a pledge.
Besides these plates for horse races, the wagers may be as the persons
please.
Sir W. Temple.
If any atheist can stake his soul for a wager against such an
inexhaustible disproportion, let him never hereafter accuse others of
credulity.
Bentley.
2. (Law) A contract by which two parties or more agree that a certain
sum of money, or other thing, shall be paid or delivered to one of
them, on the happening or not happening of an uncertain event. Bouvier.
At common law a wager is considered as a legal contract which the
courts must enforce unless it be on a subject contrary to public
policy, or immoral, or tending to the detriment of the public, or
affecting the interest, feelings, or character of a third person. In
many of the United States an action can not be sustained upon any wager
or bet. Chitty. Bouvier.