Wager of battel, or Wager of battle (O. Eng. Law), the giving of gage,
or pledge, for trying a cause by single combat, formerly allowed in
military, criminal, and civil causes. In writs of right, where the
trial was by champions, the tenant produced his champion, who, by
throwing down his glove as a gage, thus waged, or stipulated, battle
with the champion of the demandant, who, by taking up the glove,
accepted the challenge. The wager of battel, which has been long in
disuse, was abolished in England in 1819, by a statute passed in
consequence of a defendant's having waged his battle in a case which
arose about that period. See Battel. — Wager of law (Law), the giving
of gage, or sureties, by a defendant in an action of debt, that at a
certain day assigned he would take a law, or oath, in open court, that
he did not owe the debt, and at the same time bring with him eleven
neighbors (called compurgators), who should avow upon their oaths that
they believed in their consciences that he spoke the truth. — Wager
policy. (Insurance Law) See under Policy.
Wa"ger, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wagered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Wagering.] To
hazard on the issue of a contest, or on some question that is to be
decided, or on some casualty; to lay; to stake; to bet.
And wagered with him Pieces of gold 'gainst this which he wore.
Shak.
Wa"ger, v. i. To make a bet; to lay a wager.
'T was merry when You wagered on your angling.
Shak.
Wa"ger*er (?), n. One who wagers, or lays a bet.
Wa"ger*ing, a. Hazarding; pertaining to the act of one who wagers.
Wagering policy. (Com.) See Wager policy, under Policy.
Wa"ges (?), n. plural in termination, but singular in signification.
[Plural of wage; cf. F. gages, pl., wages, hire. See Wage, n.] A
compensation given to a hired person for services; price paid for
labor; recompense; hire. See Wage, n., 2.
The wages of sin is death.
Rom. vi. 23.
Wages fund (Polit. Econ.), the aggregate capital existing at any time
in any country, which theoretically is unconditionally destined to be
paid out in wages. It was formerly held, by Mill and other political
economists, that the average rate of wages in any country at any time
depended upon the relation of the wages fund to the number of laborers.
This theory has been greatly modified by the discovery of other
conditions affecting wages, which it does not take into account. Encyc.
Brit.
Syn. — See under Wage, n.
Wag"gel (wg"gl), n. (Zoöl.) The young of the great black-backed gull
(Larus marinus), formerly considered a distinct species. [Prov. Eng.]
Wag"ger*y (-gr*), n.; pl. Waggeries (#). [From Wag.] The manner or
action of a wag; mischievous merriment; sportive trick or gayety;
good-humored sarcasm; pleasantry; jocularity; as, the waggery of a
schoolboy. Locke.
A drollery and lurking waggery of expression.
W. Irving.