wage

1 of 2

noun

ˈwāj

: a payment usually of money for labor or services usually according to contract and on an hourly, daily, or piecework basis

—often used in plural

wages plural : the share of the national product attributable to labor as a factor in production

: recompense, reward

—usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction

the wages of sin is death—

Romans 6:23 (Revised Standard Version)

wageless

ˈwāj-ləs

adjective

wage

2 of 2

verb

waged; waging

transitive verb

: to engage in or carry on

wage war

wage a campaign

intransitive verb

: to be in process of occurring

the riot waged for several hours—

Amer. Guide Series: Md.

Example Sentences

Noun Both of them make decent wages. The table and chairs cost two weeks' wages. The company offers competitive wages and good benefits. The company gave workers a four percent wage increase this year. Verb They waged a guerrilla war against the government. Local activists are waging a campaign to end homelessness in the region. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The financial crunch that many people are feeling nowadays has been brought on by a perfect storm of factors, ranging from rapidly rising housing prices and stagnation in real wages to unprecedented inflation fueled by a global pandemic and war. —

Kimberley Mok, Treehugger, 13 Apr. 2023 That’s why robust growth in wages must be established before the BOJ can start hiking rates, according to economists. —

Michelle Toh, CNN, 12 Apr. 2023 When inflation began taking off in 2021, Powell was counting on a surge in the number of Americans returning to work to help keep wage increases in check and prevent the jobs market from overheating. —

Rich Miller, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2023 In fiscal year 2021-22, Southern California investigators helped recover more than $892,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 296 workers, the report said. —

Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2023 Construction firms in Baltimore and Temple Hills that jointly employed workers failed to pay overtime and owe $289,000 in back wages and other penalties, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found. —

Lorraine Mirabella, Baltimore Sun, 4 Apr. 2023 The Japanese economy has tended to stagnate in recent years, with slow wage increases, and has recently been hit by inflationary pressures, even as some parts of the nation’s economy continue to experince deflation, the opposite trend in which prices continually decrease. —

Yuri Kageyama, ajc, 3 Apr. 2023 In Germany, a massive transport strike brought most travel to a halt as workers sought wage increases to offset inflation. —

Ben Zimmer, WSJ, 30 Mar. 2023 The Service Employees International Union Local 99 said the multiyear agreement amounts to a 30% wage increase, which is what the union had demanded. —

Phil Helsel, NBC News, 25 Mar. 2023

Verb

The documents reveal profound concerns about the war’s trajectory and Kyiv’s capacity to wage a successful offensive against Russian forces. —

Ben Brasch, Washington Post, 14 Apr. 2023 Freeze has emphasized that this competition will wage into the fall (and possibly include a post-spring transfer addition if Auburn can find the right fit). —

Tom Green | Tgreen@al.com, al, 8 Apr. 2023 In every major court battle Donald Trump has waged, the former president has reverted to a now-familiar script: cue the legal tsunami. —

Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2023 Moscow has had more success weathering the diplomatic isolation imposed by Ukraine’s Western allies, aimed at punishing the Kremlin and eroding its ability to wage the war. —

Matthew Mpoke Bigg, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Apr. 2023 Without firing a shot, President Joe Biden’s team and American allies are successfully waging an economic war against Russia, my analysis of data from the Kremlin and other sources shows. —

David Cay Johnston, The New Republic, 30 Mar. 2023 Washington — The Senate on Wednesday voted to repeal the legal justifications used to attack Iraq in 1991 and 2003, endorsing a rare bipartisan effort by Congress to revoke the authority to wage war from the executive branch just days after the 20-year anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. —

Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 29 Mar. 2023 Young recapped the public battle Smith has been waging over the past few weeks surrounding his outrage over the additional fees tacked onto the price of tickets for his band’s upcoming North American tour, which, in some cases, exceeded the face value of the ticket. —

Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 24 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.