Possibly a corruption of cage, from Old French -.

• IPA: /kæd͡ʒ/

cadge (plural cadges)

1. (falconry) A circular frame on which cadgers carry hawks for sale.

cadge (cadges, present participle cadging; simple past and past participle cadged)

1. (Geordie) To beg.
   • 1839, Glasgow Society, Report for Repressing Juvenile Delinquency:

     Cadging on the fly is a profitable occupation in the vicinity of bathing places, and large towns. A person of this description frequently gets many shillings in the course of the day

2. (US, British, slang) To obtain something by wit or guile; to convince people to do something they might not normally do.

   Synonyms: scrounge, bum, Thesaurus:scrounge

   Are ye gannin te cadge a lift of yoer fatha?

   • 1956, James Baldwin, Giovanni's Room, Penguin, published 2001, Part One, Chapter 2:

     They moved about the bar incessantly, cadging cigarettes and drinks, with something behind their eyes at once terribly vulnerable and terribly hard.

   • 1960, Lionel Bart, “Food, Glorious Food,” song from the musical Oliver!

     There’s not a crust, not a crumb can we find,

     can we beg, can we borrow, or cadge […]

3. To carry hawks and other birds of prey.
4. (UK, Scotland, dialect) To carry, as a burden.
5. (UK, Scotland, dialect) To hawk or peddle, as fish, poultry, etc.

• German: schnorren

• Russian: выманить
• Spanish: mendigar, suplicar, gorronear, mangonear