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.

---

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

---

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

They expect wage and dividend payments by major chip companies to reach 5.2% of GDP in 2027, the highest level in the available historical data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

Ahead of these events, the group is asking that employers provide union and living wage jobs, funding for 50,000 units of housing for working families, a moratorium on short-term rentals and protections for immigrant workers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

Amazon employees are in line for an increase to their minimum starting wage.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

But now, an inscrutable economy—featuring low hiring rates and mediocre wage growth, combined with a volatile geopolitical environment—has left prospective home buyers hesitant to make a big-ticket purchase.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Now she was out not only her wage, which her family needed, but also the twenty cents for round-trip bus fare.

From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose

Administrators said about £489,000 was owed for staff wages and accrued holiday pay.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

About a third of this will go towards wages for soldiers, while the remainder will largely go towards weapons and equipment, the release said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

BlackRock said it would work with corporate clients to analyze the demographics and wages of their workforces, among other factors, to help inform investment choices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

Many feminists, especially socialist ones, have demanded wages for housework as well as childcare—salaries, in other words, for mothers who stay home.

From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026

Also raised his wages fifty cents a week.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

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

A historically nomadic people, Tuaregs, who are spread across Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso, have waged an armed struggle for decades against marginalisation, with action centred in particular around Kidal.

From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026

The Upper Bann assembly member said even as he raised concerns directly with Burrows, an "insidious campaign of rumour and gossip" was being waged against him.

From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026

For two, perhaps three seconds, a terrific battle of minds for status and authority was waged between a boy and a tiger.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Gen. Rob Bonta from waging a legal battle to block Paramount’s $111-billion acquisition of Warner Bros.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 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

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

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

He stayed still, but she saw a tremor pass through him, as if he were waging a war with himself.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo