What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Cage vs Encage - What's the difference?

cage | encage |

As verbs the difference between cage and encage

is that cage is to put into a cage while encage is to lock inside a cage; to imprison.

As a noun cage

is an enclosure made of bars, normally to hold animals.

As a proper noun Cage

is {{surname}.

cage

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • an enclosure made of bars, normally to hold animals.
    • We keep a bird in a cage .
    The tigers are in a cage to protect the public.
    The most dangerous prisoners are locked away in a cage .
  • the passenger compartment of a lift
  • (hockey, water polo) the goal.
  • (US derogatory slang) automobile
  • (figuratively) Something that hinders freedom.
  • (athletics) The area from which competitors throw a discus or hammer.
  • (obsolete) A place of confinement for malefactors.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • * Lovelace
    • Stone walls do not a prison make, / Nor iron bars a cage .
  • An outer framework of timber, enclosing something within it.
    • the cage of a staircase
    (Gwilt)
  • (engineering) A skeleton frame to limit the motion of a loose piece, such as a ball valve.
  • A wirework strainer, used in connection with pumps and pipes.
  • (mining) The drum on which the rope is wound in a hoisting whim.
  • (baseball) The catcher's wire mask.

    • Derived terms

    * birdcage * cageling * cagey * roll cage

    Verb

    (cag)
  • To put into a cage.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
    • , title= Geothermal Energy , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.}}
  • To keep in a cage.
  • To track individual responses to direct mail, either (advertising) to maintain and develop mailing lists or (politics) to identify people who are not eligible to vote because they do not reside at the registered addresses.
  • (figuratively) To restrict someone's movement or creativity.

    • Derived terms

    * caged in * uncage * caging list * rattle someone's cage

    encage

    English

    Verb

    (encag)
  • To lock inside a cage; to imprison.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1858, author=B. B. Wiffen, title=Choice Notes from "Notes and Queries" citation
    • , passage=Bruce's daughter, Marjory, and his sister Mary, were likewise to be encaged , the former in the Tower of London, the latter in Roxburghe Castle.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2009, date=August 12, author=Fiona Johannessen, title=Other Voices: Inspired by shelter of compassion, work=TheUnion.com citation
    • , passage=I feared the sight of encaged animals would be unbearably sad.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2009, date=August 18, author=Natalie Angier, title=Brain Is a Co-Conspirator in a Vicious Stress Loop, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=To rattle the rats to the point where their stress response remained demonstrably hyperactive, the researchers exposed the animals to four weeks of varying stressors: moderate electric shocks, being encaged with dominant rats, prolonged dunks in water.}}