Legal Definitions - gager

Definition: Gager (gay-juhr) is a noun that refers to the act of giving security or a pledge as a guarantee for performance. It is a transaction in which one gives a gage. Gage (gayj) is also a noun that means a pledge, pawn, or other thing deposited as security for performance.

For example, if a landlord seizes a tenant's goods in distress, they become a gage for the payment of the rent that is in arrear. The sheriff may also take gages from those who have no intention of giving them. The word gage is also used as a verb, meaning to pawn or pledge something as security for.

One archaic use of the word gage was as a phrase, gager deliverance, which meant to give security that a thing shall be delivered. For instance, if the person who distrained (seized) the cattle being sued has not delivered them, they shall not only avow the distress but also gager deliverance, put in surety that they will deliver them.

These examples illustrate how gager and gage are used in legal contexts to refer to the act of giving or taking security or a pledge as a guarantee for performance.