[f. CLERK sb. + -AGE.]
1. Clerks collectively, a body of clerks. (nonce-use; cf. peerage, etc.)
1829. J. Wilson, in Blackw. Mag., XXVI. 397. The mere clerkage … hundreds, perhaps thousands of them.
2. Clerks’ work.
1883. Folkestone Express, 18 Aug., 3/1. Each company was put to the expense, in some cases, of several thousand pounds in clerkage.
1885. Pall Mall Gaz., 6 Jan., 4/1. The extras consisted of checking, clerkage, watching, and labelling.
