Like a cage rather than a lily (6)
I believe the answer is:
gilded
'like' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for gilded that I've seen before include "Gold-covered" , "Given coat of gold" , "Covered as if with gold" , "Gold-plated" , "Not marble, nor the - monuments / Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme (Shak., Sonnet 55)" .)