4. To draw into equidistant gathers by running a thread through it, as cloth or a garment.
5. To measure the capacity, character, or ability of; to estimate; to judge of.
You shall not gauge me
By what we do to-night.
Shak. Gauge
(Gauge), n. [Written also gage.]
1. A measure; a standard of measure; an instrument to determine dimensions, distance, or capacity; a
standard.
This plate must be a gauge to file your worm and groove to equal breadth by.
Moxon.
There is not in our hands any fixed gauge of minds.
I. Taylor. 2. Measure; dimensions; estimate.
The gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt.
Burke. 3. (Mach. & Manuf.) Any instrument for ascertaining or regulating the dimensions or forms of things; a
templet or template; as, a button maker's gauge.
4. (Physics) Any instrument or apparatus for measuring the state of a phenomenon, or for ascertaining
its numerical elements at any moment; — usually applied to some particular instrument; as, a rain gauge; a
steam gauge.
5. (Naut.) (a) Relative positions of two or more vessels with reference to the wind; as, 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. (b) The depth to which a vessel sinks in the water. Totten.
6. The distance between the rails of a railway.
The standard gauge of railroads in most countries is four feet, eight and one half inches. Wide, or
broad, gauge, in the United States, is six feet; in England, seven feet, and generally any gauge exceeding
standard gauge. Any gauge less than standard gauge is now called narrow gauge. It varies from two
feet to three feet six inches.
7. (Plastering) The quantity of plaster of Paris used with common plaster to accelerate its setting.
8. (Building) 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.
Gauge of a carriage, car, etc., the distance between the wheels; — ordinarily called the track. —
Gauge cock, a stop cock used as a try cock for ascertaining the height of the water level in a steam
boiler. — Gauge concussion (Railroads), the jar caused by a car-wheel flange striking the edge of
the rail. — Gauge glass, a glass tube for a water gauge. — Gauge lathe, an automatic lathe for
turning a round object having an irregular profile, as a baluster or chair round, to a templet or gauge.
— Gauge point, the diameter of a cylinder whose altitude is one inch, and contents equal to that of
a unit of a given measure; — a term used in gauging casks, etc. — Gauge rod, a graduated rod, for
measuring the capacity of barrels, casks, etc. — Gauge saw, a handsaw, with a gauge to regulate the
depth of cut. Knight. — Gauge stuff, a stiff and compact plaster, used in making cornices, moldings,
etc., by means of a templet. — Gauge wheel, a wheel at the forward end of a plow beam, to determine
the depth of the furrow. — Joiner's gauge, an instrument used to strike a line parallel to the straight
side of a board, etc. — Printer's gauge, an instrument to regulate the length of the page. — Rain
gauge, an instrument for measuring the quantity of rain at any given place. — Salt gauge, or Brine
gauge, an instrument or contrivance for indicating the degree of saltness of water from its specific gravity,
