1. a bird kept in a cage
Usage: somewhat archaic or literary
2. a person confined or restricted, as if in a cage
Usage: figurative; archaic

Examples

• The cageling sang sweetly from its perch.
• He felt like a cageling, trapped by his responsibilities.
• The old woman kept several cagelings in her parlor.
• Once released, the cageling struggled to adapt to life in the wild.
• The poet used the image of a cageling to represent lost freedom.