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 union representing Southern California hospitality workers has accused a group of airlines and hotel businesses of using underhanded tactics in support of a petition to overturn a city ordinance boosting the minimum wage in Los Angeles. —Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2025

In November, voters in Hawley's home state of Missouri approved a ballot measure to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour, starting in 2026. —/ Cbs News, CBS News, 10 June 2025

Sawant had many hobby horses, but her two favorites were raising the minimum wage to $15 and the other imposing rent control. —Roger Valdez, Forbes.com, 6 June 2025

Several Democratic candidates for California governor agreed Wednesday that despite a cost-of-living crisis, the state should not continue to raise the minimum wage. —Nicole Nixon, Sacbee.com, 5 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