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

After accelerating the month before, wage growth in July cooled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 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

U.K. pay growth has slowed sharply and has now returned to around pre-COVID levels, a marked contrast with economies such as Japan and the eurozone, where wage pressures remain more persistent.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

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

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Or they pay only a fraction of the going wage, which is 50 pesos, or about $5, a day.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Reducing bank shift wages caused more than financial issues, the midwife added.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Perhaps the strongest support for that view comes from wages, according to von Ahlen.

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

While North Dakota’s Workforce Safety and Insurance agency built a $1.2 billion surplus, its payouts for lost wages and medical benefits declined.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

But the long hours and meager wages meant the need for additional income.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

The American bookmaker then alleged in a book published after his release that Mickelson had waged a billion dollars in sporting bets.

From BBC ● Jun. 12, 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

Commission officials said they waged no such campaign.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026

Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban government of sheltering militants behind a surge in attacks -- particularly the Pakistan Taliban, who have waged a violent campaign for years.

From Barron's ● May 12, 2026

Besides that, they did not want Caesar and Pompey’s next battle to be waged on Egyptian soil.

From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby

At one point, Weist describes uncovering that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani maintained a fine-art photography practice while simultaneously waging a highly public censorship battle against the Brooklyn Museum.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

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

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

And California teachers have been waging a coordinated statewide campaign, winning new contracts in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

“I meant they’re the best at waging war. You’ll thank your lucky stars if this country is ever attacked. They’re the greatest fighting force in the whole world.”

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy