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minimum wage
minimum wagenounthe 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
minimum-wageadjectiveof or relating to a minimum wage.
minimum wage
1 Americannoun
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.
noun
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.
He suggested this would be set at £3,750 for companies employing foreign workers full-time at the minimum wage, an annual salary of £24,784 for those over 21.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026
Enrollees are paid the highest of the state, federal or local minimum wage and work an average of 20 hours per week.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
When business leaders were frustrated over the passage of a $30-per-hour minimum wage for hotel workers, Bass brokered a meeting with them and Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, he said in December.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2026
“I made more money,” said Janet Jimenez, 53, who works in a restaurant and says the minimum wage increase benefited her and other relatives.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026
The union leadership had repeatedly pressed the Chamber of Mines for a minimum wage of ten shillings a day, as well as family housing and two weeks’ paid leave.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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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.