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

Finally, minimum wage will go up in several counties and cities across the state. —Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025

Many of the folks that rely on Medicaid work for minimum wage, making too little to qualify for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Seniors and the disabled that rely on Medicaid for long-term care stand to lose even more. —Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 June 2025

Sanders said Cooke would be an ally to him in the House to enforce antitrust laws against monopolies, raise the minimum wage and expand Medicare. —Jared Gans, The Hill, 19 June 2025

Currently, in order to encourage the hiring of people with disabilities, the Department of Labor allows employers to pay them far below—often half—the minimum wage. —Alan Schwarz, Forbes.com, 17 June 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