wage

American  

[weyj] / weɪdʒ /

noun

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)

waged, waging

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)

waged, waging

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

Related Words

See pay ¹.

Other Word Forms

• underwage
  noun
• wageless
  adjective
• wagelessness
  noun

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

United are not unwilling to talk but are determined not to deviate from a pre-stated desire to keep their wage bill under control.

From BBC • May 8, 2026

Still, this could reverse if hiring slows or jobs face the axe due to lingering uncertainty, while the ECB already expects wage growth to cool this year.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

The Bank of America Institute found External link that higher-income households saw wage growth of 5.6% in March from a year ago, compared with just 1% and 2% monthly gains among lower-and middle-income groups, respectively.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

“Communities wage the fight but cinema helps,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

The stakes were small compared with the grand scale expedition Mark Antony had hoped to wage against Parthia.

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