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 chair also called for a pause on minimum wage hikes, noting that garments remain a labor-intensive sector employing 600,000 to 800,000 workers. —Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 22 Sep. 2025

That makes the pay just a touch over minimum wage in most areas and well below it in high-cost states such as California and New York. —Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025

BofA will raise minimum wage Bank of America is raising its minimum wage to $25 per hour starting next month, marking a 67% increase since 2017. —Diane Brady, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2025

These shifts are because of changes in the economy, as the value of the minimum wage has fallen, more jobs require higher education credentials while the cost of college has increased, and housing affordability has declined. —Karen Benjamin Guzzo, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025

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