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 brings us back to the claim that job losses among California’s fast-food restaurants are due to the new minimum wage law. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2024

In many cases, such workers make less than minimum wage with no benefits. —Jonathan Swan, New York Times, 8 June 2024

Jeremy Hartwell claimed that the producers created inhumane working conditions; plied the cast with alcohol; deprived them of food, water, and sleep; and paid them less than minimum wage. —Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 3 June 2024

That means an Arizona renter must earn almost $30 an hour and potentially have more than two jobs paying minimum wage to have a home. —Catherine Reagor, The Arizona Republic, 22 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