gauge

A measure; a standard of measure; an instrument to determine dimensions, distance, or capacity; a standardcountableuncountable

• 1780, Edmund Burke, speech at The Guildhall, in Bristol the gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt

An act of measuring.countableuncountable

An estimate.countableuncountable

Any instrument for ascertaining or regulating the level, state, dimensions or forms of thingscountableuncountable

A thickness of sheet metal or wire designated by any of several numbering schemes, with lower numbers indicating larger size.countableuncountable

Ellipsis of track gauge.abbreviationalt-ofcountable

• It was Locke who concisely won the argument for a standardised gauge of 4ft 8½ inches over Brunel's 7ft 0 ¼in preference. […] Today, over 60% of the world's railways use that gauge.

Ellipsis of loading gauge.abbreviationalt-ofcountable

A semi-norm; a function that assigns a non-negative size to all vectors in a vector space.countableuncountable

The number of stitches per inch, centimetre, or other unit of distance.countableuncountable

Relative positions of two or more vessels with reference to the wind.countableuncountable

• 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.

To measure or determine with a gauge; to measure the capacity of.transitive

To estimate.transitive

To appraise the character or ability of; to judge of.transitive

• You shall not gauge me / By what we do to-night.

To draw into equidistant gathers by running a thread through it.transitive

To mix (a quantity of ordinary plaster) with a quantity of plaster of Paris.transitive

To chip, hew or polish (stones, bricks, etc) to a standard size and/or shape.transitive