minimum wage

noun

1

: living wage

2

: the lowest wage paid or permitted to be paid

specifically : a wage fixed by legal authority or by contract as the least that may be paid either to employed persons generally or to a particular category of employed persons

Examples of minimum wage in a Sentence

Congress will vote on a bill to raise the minimum wage.

Recent Examples on the Web

That’s about nine times less than a California worker makes at the current agriculture minimum wage of $16 per hour. —Cindy Carcamo, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2024

Organizers of a campaign to raise Missouri’s minimum wage and guarantee sick leave for workers dropped off signatures on Wednesday to force a statewide vote on the measure. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 1 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

minimum wage

noun

: a wage fixed (as by law) as the least that may be paid to employed persons

Legal Definition

minimum wage

noun

: a wage fixed by contract or especially by law as the least that may be paid either to employees generally or to a particular category of employees compare scale