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 unauthorized workers were paid below minimum wage and were not compensated for overtime, prosecutors said. —Daniel Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 19 July 2025

Its signature Fight for $15 organizing effort in fast food restaurants, an industry notoriously difficult to unionize, got California lawmakers to mandate a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers in 2023. —Calmatters, Mercury News, 13 July 2025

On the other hand, when minimum wages increase and people begin saving wealth, divorce risk falls. —Nathan Meyers, The Conversation, 11 July 2025

He’s advocated for rent freezes, increases in minimum wages and having the city open its own grocery stores to drive down food costs. —Dan Walters, Oc Register, 8 July 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