Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Wage

Wage , transitive verb

[Old English wagen, Old French wagier, gagier, to pledge, promise, French gager to wager, lay, bet, from Late Latin wadium a pledge; of Teutonic origin; compare Gothic wadi a pledge, gawadjōn to pledge, akin to English wed, German wette a wager. See Wed, and compare Gage.]

1.
To pledge; to hazard on the event of a contest; to stake; to bet, to lay; to wager; as, to wage a dollar. — Hakluyt
My life I never but as a pawn To wage against thy enemies. — Shakespeare
2.
To expose one's self to, as a risk; to incur, as a danger; to venture; to hazard.
Too weak to wage an instant trial with the king. — Shakespeare
To wake and wage a danger profitless. — Shakespeare
3.
To engage in, as a contest, as if by previous gage or pledge; to carry on, as a war.
[He pondered] which of all his sons was fit To reign and wage immortal war with wit. — Dryden
The two are waging war, and the one triumphs by the destruction of the other. — I. Taylor
4.
To adventure, or lay out, for hire or reward; to hire out. [Obsolete]
Thou... must wage thy works for wealth. — Spenser
5.
To put upon wages; to hire; to employ; to pay wages to. [Obsolete]
Abundance of treasure which he had in store, wherewith he might wage soldiers. — Holinshed
I would have them waged for their labor. — Latimer
6.
(O. Eng. Law) To give security for the performance of. — Burrill
Collocations (2)
To wage battle (O. Eng. Law) , to give gage, or security, for joining in the duellum, or combat. See Wager of battel, under Wager, n. — Burrill
To wage one's law (Law) , to give security to make one's law. See Wager of law, under Wager, n.

Wage , intransitive verb

To bind one's self; to engage. [Obsolete]

Wage , noun

[Old French wage, gage, guarantee, engagement. See Wage, transitive verb ]

1.
That which is staked or ventured; that for which one incurs risk or danger; prize; gage. [Obsolete]
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. — Shakespeare
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.

Collocations (1)
Board wages , See under 1st Board.