What can one 'wage' besides war?

It occurred to me that in the only instances I’ve heard the word used, it’s been to say, “wage war”. I couldn’t come up with a single other wage-able anything. This is bugging the hell out of me. It never occurred to me just how strange the word ‘war’ is.

Wage a battle ? Never heard… but doesn’t seem wrong.

Sex, conversation, sleep…

It means ‘to engage in’ by the way.

I’m gonna wage masturbation one of these days. :smiley:

Why wait?

You can definitely wage battle. Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (I no longer have access to the OED…=() gives ‘wage war’, ‘wage a campaign’, ‘wage a battle’, ‘wage a filibuster’, and ‘wage a fight’ in its examples. I suppose you could wage any type of military or otherwise aggressive action: ‘wage a prolonged assault’. (Except for sieges – you always lay siege.)

My mom used to have a bumper sticker that said “Wage Peace.”

You can always wage a bet

ok, a lot of those don’t sound right to me.

Is there a rule as to what constitues wage-able?

Campaigns are waged.

OED includes the following transitive usages (some quite rare and archaic):

wage love
wage a weapon (to wield)
wage works (to put out for hire)
wage workers (to employ)
wage money (to stake or wager)
wage lives (to risk the loss of)

“Wage” has been a flexible word in the course of the language, but is now sadly relegated to a rather ignominious usage.