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

If your income qualifies for exemptions Federal law limits the percentage of your wages that can be garnished, generally capping it at 25% of your disposable income or the amount exceeding 30 times the federal minimum wage — whichever is less. —Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2026

Most servers currently earn well over the minimum wage — more than double in many cases — after tips. —The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 16 Mar. 2026

This would be a significant rise from the current $17 minimum wage in the city and would see the $30 mark reached by 2030. —Justin Klawans, TheWeek, 13 Mar. 2026

Other factors include minimum wage hikes that raised expenses for lower-wage workers, including nursing home employees and home health aides. —Ken Alltucker, USA Today, 12 Mar. 2026

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