Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Wage \Wage\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Waged}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Waging}.] [OE. wagen, OF. wagier, gagier, to pledge,
   promise, F. gager to wager, lay, bet, fr. LL. wadium a
   pledge; of Teutonic origin; cf. Goth. wadi a pledge,
   gawadj[=o]n to pledge, akin to E. wed, G. wette a wager. See
   {Wed}, and cf. {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.                              --Shak.

   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.'' --Shak.

            To wake and wage a danger profitless. --Shak.

   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.
      [Obs.] ``Thou . . . must wage thy works for wealth.''
      --Spenser.

   5. To put upon wages; to hire; to employ; to pay wages to.
      [Obs.]

            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.

   {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.