minimum wage
noun
the lowest wage payable to employees in general or to designated employees as fixed by law or by union agreement.
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minimum wage
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minimum-wage
minimum-wageadjectiveof or relating to a minimum wage.
minimum wage
1 Americannoun
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minimum wages
plural
minimum-wage
2
American
[min-uh-muhm-weyj]
/ ˈmɪn ə məmˈweɪdʒ /
adjective
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of or relating to a minimum wage.
minimum-wage demands.
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paid or earning a minimum wage.
a minimum-wage worker.
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paying a minimum wage.
a minimum-wage job.
minimum wage
British
noun
minimum wage
Cultural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of minimum wage
First recorded in 1855–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In their vote, City Council members also ordered a report with a framework on how to implement a mandatory six-hour paid training to educate workers on minimum wage laws and other labor protections.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
One reason is that its high minimum wage has raised costs for employers, which in turn are cutting back on unskilled labor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
DIY store B&Q and the fast food chain Five Guys are among hundreds of UK businesses named by the government for paying staff below the minimum wage.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
As well as enforcing the minimum wage, the agency also will soon tackle practices of denying workers holiday and sick pay.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
She worked at a fast-food restaurant, rising to assistant manager but never making much more than minimum wage.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
Hare coursers were linked to crimes involving significant sums of money, says Lacks-Kelly, not "minimum-wage crimes".
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
I retired early when my father passed away, took a minimum-wage part-time job, and assumed caregiving.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 10, 2026
Among their supporters are renters, immigrants, young adults, the underserved, and the frontline workers in the minimum-wage economy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2026
More than two-thirds of people polled by Reuters/Ipsos in October supported minimum-wage increases, including nine in 10 Democrats and nearly half of Republicans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
There’s $213 left in Molly’s savings account from the minimum-wage job she had last summer scooping ice cream in Bar Harbor.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
