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

The two candidates agreed on a number of things, including opposition to a federal ban on hydraulic fracturing to extract oil, support for a ban on oil and gas leases on federal land and support for a boost in the federal minimum wage. —John Aguilar, Denver Post, 29 May 2026

They are not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, which provides minimum wage rights and provisions for overtime pay. —Julia Bowling, The Conversation, 29 May 2026

Yet while cheesemongers in Europe are hired in Michelin star restaurants and to cater royal functions, cheesemongers in America largely toil behind grocery counters making minimum wage. —Matthew Carey, Deadline, 27 May 2026

In many situations, creditors cannot take more than 25% of your disposable income or the amount by which your weekly income exceeds 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less. —Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 27 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for minimum wage

• alienage
• age
• gauge
• phage
• plage
• rage
• stage
• assuage
• backstage
• bocage
• downstage
• engage

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