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 nannies work full-time or part-time and earn the minimum wage of about $7 an hour. —Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2024

Both candidates were sent questionnaires and in their own words, detailed their plans on various issues, from artificial intelligence to the state’s minimum wage and from the state budget to bond measures. —Hanna Kang, Orange County Register, 23 Oct. 2024

In that ruling, the majority opinion directed the state to set a new scale that will see minimum wage rise to nearly$15 an hour by 2028. —Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 23 Oct. 2024

The Harris campaign has clapped back by calling out how Trump has dodged questions on supporting a minimum wage hike. —Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 23 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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