'To wage battle' definitions:

Definition of 'To wage battle'

From: GCIDE

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.] [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
My life I never but as a pawn To wage against thy enemies. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
To wake and wage a danger profitless. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
3. To engage in, as a contest, as if by previous gage or pledge; to carry on, as a war. [1913 Webster]
[He pondered] which of all his sons was fit To reign and wage immortal war with wit. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
The two are waging war, and the one triumphs by the destruction of the other. --I. Taylor. [1913 Webster]
4. To adventure, or lay out, for hire or reward; to hire out. [Obs.] "Thou . . . must wage thy works for wealth." --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
5. To put upon wages; to hire; to employ; to pay wages to. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
Abundance of treasure which he had in store, wherewith he might wage soldiers. --Holinshed. [1913 Webster]
I would have them waged for their labor. --Latimer. [1913 Webster]
6. (O. Eng. Law) To give security for the performance of. --Burrill. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]