pregage

pregage (third-person singular simple present pregages, present participle pregaging, simple past and past participle pregaged)

1. (obsolete) To preengage.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; , London: Iohn Williams , →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):

     by oath pregaged to the pope

   • 1670, Peter Heylyn, Ecclesia Restavrata: Or, the History of the Reformation of the Church of England, page 148:

     Ninthly, that the members of that Council of Trent, both Bishops and Abbots, were by Oath pregaged to the Pope, "to defend and maintain his authority against all the world."

   • 1892, Aldémah, The Queens, page 53:

     Say to parliament that, as they have retained a part of their senses, and did not seek to force upon me, their rightful queen, a husband by name, nor yet so far forget themselves as to fix a date which, in their great minds, should be the limit of my singleness, I do answer to their broad address, that I will take the matter, of which you speak to freely, into my mind for reflection, and, if I can be made to feel the need of this which you have pregaged to deliver to me, I will inform your honorable body.

2. (US) To gauge beforehand; to make an initial estimate of size, magnitude or position.
   • 1923, Henry Smith Williams, The Story of Modern Science- Volume 9, page 39:

     At the outset, however, he either failed utterly to pregage the possibilities of the method, or else through modesty declined to let his imagination take wings; for we find him, in an interview published in McClure's Magazine in 1897, when a considerable measure of success had been attained, declaring that it would be possible by the perfection of his method to send signals to a distance of at least twenty miles.

   • 1952, Railway Engineering and Maintenance - Volume 48, page 1029:

     As in most rail renewal operations, a plate setting device is used to pregage the tie plates for the DUN-RITE GAGING MACHINE.

   • 1953, SPE Journal - Volumes 9-10, page 34:

     The upper rolls pregage the plastics sheet and the lower ones widen it and produce the desired thickness.

   • 1970, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Small Business. Subcommittee on Urban and Rural Economic Development, The Impact of Franchising on Small Business, page 482:

     Still others have a series of psychological tests to pregage the likelihood of success of the joint venture.

pregage (not comparable)

1. (rare) Before gauging.
   • 1982, Production Engineering - Volume 29, page 55:

     removes parts one at a time from the bottom of the loading tray and cycles them to a probe station for a pregage check to ensure that they are within the required size.

   • 1985, The Track Cyclopedia, page 181:

     When a gaging machine is used, the pregage setting is 1/8 to 1/4 in. tighter than the desired gage.