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

Oklahoma voters will soon decide a referendum to gradually raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. —Joel Mathis, TheWeek, 12 June 2026

Over the years, the union has submitted dozens of local and statewide ballot initiatives, including ones to cap the pay of hospital executives, regulate dialysis clinics, and raise the minimum wage of healthcare workers. —Kff Health News, Oc Register, 10 June 2026

The general minimum wage in Mexico is roughly $18 a day. —Michael Rios, CNN Money, 10 June 2026

The city’s recent approval of a higher minimum wage for tourism workers only adds to the financial challenges, Green said. —Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 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