wage

American  

[weyj] / weɪdʒ /

noun

• wages
  plural

1. Often wages. money that is paid or received for work or services, as by the hour, day, or week.

   Synonyms:

   remuneration, compensation, emolument, earnings

2. Economics. Usually wages. the share of the products of industry received by labor for its work (as distinct from the share going to capital).

3. (used with a singular or plural verb) Usually wages. recompense or return.

   The wages of sin is death.

4. Obsolete. a pledge or security.

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verb (used with object)

• wages,
  present (3rd person singular)
• waged,
  past participle,  past
• waging
  present participle

1. to carry on (a battle, war, conflict, argument, etc.).

   to wage war against a nation.

   Synonyms:

   prosecute, undertake

2. Chiefly British Dialect. to hire.

3. Obsolete.

   1. to stake or wager.

   2. to pledge.

verb (used without object)

• wages,
  present (3rd person singular)
• waged,
  past participle,  past
• waging
  present participle

1. Obsolete. to contend; struggle.

wage British  

/ weɪdʒ /

noun

1. 1. (often plural) payment in return for work or services, esp that made to workmen on a daily, hourly, weekly, or piece-work basis Compare salary

   2. ( as modifier )

      wage freeze

2. (plural) economics the portion of the national income accruing to labour as earned income, as contrasted with the unearned income accruing to capital in the form of rent, interest, and dividends

3. (often plural) recompense, return, or yield

4. an obsolete word for pledge

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verb

1. to engage in

2. obsolete to pledge or wager

3. archaic another word for hire hire

Synonym Usage

See pay ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• underwage
  noun
• wagelessness
  noun
• wageless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wages
  plural

Participles

• waging
  present
• waged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• wage
  simple
• wages
  simple
• have waged
  perfect
• has waged
  perfect
• am waging
  progressive
• are waging
  progressive
• is waging
  progressive
• have been waging
  perfect progressive
• has been waging
  perfect progressive

Past

• waged
  simple
• had waged
  perfect
• was waging
  progressive
• were waging
  progressive
• had been waging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will wage
  simple
• will have waged
  perfect
• will be waging
  progressive
• will have been waging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of wage

First recorded in 1275–1325; (noun) Middle English: “pledge, security,” from Anglo-French; Old French guage gage ¹, from unattested Vulgar Latin wadium, from Germanic ( see wed); (verb) Middle English wagen “to pledge,” from Anglo-French wagier; Old French guagier, from unattested Vulgar Latin wadiāre, derivative of wadium

Explanation

If your job pays a good wage, it means that you earn a lot of money for the hard work you do. If you're not happy with your wage, you might have to wage war on your boss. Wage is one of those words whose verb and noun forms have entirely different meanings. A worker's wage is how much money she makes. But when you wage something, you carry it out: for example, a warmonger is someone whose primary goal is to wage wars. The word is of Germanic origin, and it's related to both gage and wed, with their underlying meanings of "to pledge."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wage wages waged waging

Input prices rose in July at the second-highest pace in more than three and a half years, with companies surveyed pointing to increased energy, fuel and wage expenses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

He has continued this crusade, recently endorsing a $20 minimum wage and speaking out against the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

Effectively, Jaissle's remit will be to develop players and outperform clubs with bigger wage bills.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Though Disney has not proposed an immediate wage increase, the company is continuing to provide annual increases to union workers as negotiations progress, Jakary said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

That came to almost eight dollars an hour—which my dad said was a lot more than I’d make minimum wage at McDonald’s.

From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings

Average hourly wages for permanent employees rose 3% on a year earlier, slowing from a 3.7% advance in June and softer than the 3.4% rise economists expected.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

If labor becomes really hard to find, however, and if companies decide they need to hire lots of new workers to keep pace with a growing economy, wages should begin to rise.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

In California, unused vacation hours are considered wages and, while employers can’t enforce a “use it or lose it” policy, they can set caps on how much vacation an employee is allowed to accrue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Equally, the amount United can pay in wages will differ depending on whether Rashford's salary is part of the overall bill.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Kunthi’s two eldest sons were among the first in the village to start work at the tannery, and between them they brought home more than a man’s wages.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

A historically nomadic people, Tuaregs, who are spread across Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso, have waged an armed struggle for decades against marginalisation, with action centred in particular around Kidal.

From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026

This is why the nation’s founders instituted religious freedom — they witnessed how Europe was torn apart by wars waged between different flavors of Christianity.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026

The Upper Bann assembly member said even as he raised concerns directly with Burrows, an "insidious campaign of rumour and gossip" was being waged against him.

From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026

That battle is still being waged and helps explain why Powell, 73 years old, will stay on the Fed’s board, the first chair to do so in more than 75 years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

I wondered how much I should tell Quentin about the kind of war being waged between my parents.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

As his raw dairy grew, McAfee portrayed himself as an underdog waging a war against industrialized food.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

The U.S. has been waging a “war” on screwworm, U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: "I can't think of a worse time to do this with a war waging in Europe."

From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026

Rae Huang, a 43-year-old community organizer and democratic socialist, is waging a long-shot campaign for L.A. mayor, focusing on free buses, public housing and police abuse.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

Women were out on their front porches with their mops and buckets, waging their never-ending battle against the coal dust.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam