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 hourly minimum wage in Los Angeles is $17.28, 78 cents higher than the state’s. —Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2025

By contrast, Los Angeles is focusing on what won’t help the housing crisis: last week, the Los Angeles City Council approved a new ordinance that increases the minimum wage for airport and hotel workers to $30 by 2028. —Rafael Perez, Oc Register, 30 May 2025

If along with tips, a worker’s earnings are still below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, then employers have to make up the difference. —Abdallah Fayyad, Vox, 21 May 2025

In some central Florida counties, hourly wages start at $15 — just two dollars above the state’s minimum wage. —Jason Cerrano, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 May 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