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.

Wage \Wage\, v. i.
   To bind one's self; to engage. [Obs.]

Wage \Wage\, n. [OF. wage, gage, guarantee, engagement. See
   {Wage}, v. t. ]
   1. That which is staked or ventured; that for which one
      incurs risk or danger; prize; gage. [Obs.] ``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.            --Shak.

            Existing legislation on the subject of wages.
                                                  --Encyc. Brit.

   Note: 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.

   {Board wages}. See under 1st {Board}.

   Syn: Hire; reward; stipend; salary; allowance; pay;
        compensation; remuneration; fruit.

Source : WordNet®

wage
     v : as of wars, battles, or campaigns; "Napoleon and Hitler
         waged war against all of Europe" [syn: {engage}]

wage
     n : something that remunerates; "wages were paid by check"; "he
         wasted his pay on drink"; "they saved a quarter of all
         their earnings" [syn: {pay}, {earnings}, {remuneration},
         {salary}]