wage

American  

[wayj] / 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

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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

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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

Firms say higher rates limit their ability to offer new jobs and wage rises.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

Higher inflation expectations can lead to stronger demands for wage increases.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

"The representative of the factory owners on the wage board agreed, too. We agreed on this point... We are working together."

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

It has since recovered some, suggesting the slowdown in the labor market and wage growth has stabilized.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026

Millions of dollars in federal aid have been offered to state and local law enforcement agencies willing to wage the war.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Matt Wickham, Freedom Leisure's chief operating officer, explained the firm had seen "significant cost increases", with gas prices up by more than 50% over the second half of the year and minimum wages rising year-on-year.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

The sector employs more than four million people and its success is marred by longstanding disputes over wages, working conditions and labour rights.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

Well, since the COVID-19 recession, wages haven’t grown faster than prices.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

Private wages rose just 3.1% in the third quarter from a year earlier, the slowest in five years, the Labor Department reported last week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

He would take half a week’s wages and go out and buy something he wanted, or something he thought she wanted.

From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin

But over the following weeks, Ellison waged a concerted behind-the-scenes campaign, people familiar with the matter said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

The two countries waged a brief but bitter war over the territory in 1982.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Turek could also benefit from the strong campaign being waged by gubernatorial front-runner Rob Sand, who tops the Democratic ticket.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

Still, even trade wars waged for silly reasons can have real consequences.

From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026

As a consequence, during so much time and so many wars waged during the past twenty years, whenever there has been an army made up completely of Italians it has always made a poor showing.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

Its landscape is dotted with ruins of 19th-century fortresses and munitions dumps, from a time when Japan was waging war on China and Russia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

While Karadzic was the ideologue and Milosevic the wily politician, Mladic was the soldier and his metier was waging war.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

"We're not waging any kind of "battle" against Spain; we're simply carefully controlling arrivals," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

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

She was waging yet another battle with school officials to get permission to appear with the choral group in the Christmas program.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals

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