wage

[ weyj ]

/ weɪdʒ /

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See synonyms for: wage / waged / wages / waging on Thesaurus.com

noun

Often wages. money that is paid or received for work or services, as by the hour, day, or week.Compare living wage, minimum wage.

Usually wages. Economics. the share of the products of industry received by labor for its work (as distinct from the share going to capital).

Usually wages. (used with a singular or plural verb) recompense or return: The wages of sin is death.

Obsolete. a pledge or security.

verb (used with object), waged, wag·ing.

to carry on (a battle, war, conflict, argument, etc.): to wage war against a nation.

Chiefly British Dialect. to hire.

Obsolete.

to stake or wager.
to pledge.

verb (used without object), waged, wag·ing.

Obsolete. to contend; struggle.

OTHER WORDS FOR wage

1 earnings, emolument, compensation, remuneration.

5 undertake, prosecute.

See synonyms for wage on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of wage

First recorded in 1275–1325; (noun) Middle English: “pledge, security,” from Anglo-French; Old French guagegage¹, 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

synonym study for wage

1. See pay¹.

OTHER WORDS FROM wage

wageless, adjectivewage·less·ness, nounun·der·wage, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH wage

salary, wages

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use wage in a sentence

As a consular official, he is responsible for protecting Guatemalans here, and he doesn’t believe minors should be working factory jobs, earning minimum wages, in sometimes dangerous conditions.
Inside the Lives of Immigrant Teens Working Dangerous Night Shifts in Suburban Factories|by Melissa Sanchez|November 19, 2020|ProPublica
The company will increase the premium it pays above the minimum wage in the markets it operates.
Starbucks gives baristas a 10% raise|Claire Zillman, reporter|November 19, 2020|Fortune
The data squares with other research that has explored the consequences of low wages at some of the country’s biggest corporations.
Walmart and McDonald’s have the most workers on food stamps and Medicaid, new study shows|Eli Rosenberg|November 18, 2020|Washington Post
Productivity and wages moved in tandem for the better part of 30 years.
Capitalism must be saved by capitalists, argue these pioneering ESG investors|kdunn6|November 15, 2020|Fortune

She showed how Methodist was suing and garnishing the wages of thousands of patients for unpaid hospital bills.
Two ProPublica Projects Win Loeb Awards|by ProPublica|November 13, 2020|ProPublica
The Kulahu strike was part of a widening covert war being waged by Iran inside Pakistan.
The Dangerous Drug-Funded Secret War Between Iran and Pakistan|Umar Farooq|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For three decades, ‘Puck’ waged war on all things holy—politicians, social mores, and the news.
The Magazine That Made—and Unmade—Politicians|Anthony Haden-Guest|November 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
China, like the U.S., has long waged a war against drugs, for good reason.
Chinese Getting Hooked on the Middle East's Favorite Drug|Brendon Hong|October 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A three-way tabloid circulation war was being waged amid a three-way mayoral election.
The Myth of the Central Park Five|Edward Conlon|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The global capital of clubbing has a secret—there's an underground war being waged to be the top club impresario in town.
The Battle to Be King of Ibiza Nightlife|Melanie Mendelewitsch|October 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He waged war all night with these pests, which ran over his bed and made a hideous noise.
The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky|Modeste Tchaikovsky
I think this is a wicked, wicked war, waged to perpetuate slavery and to destroy the Union.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
Against plays, players, and playgoers they waged in pulpit and pamphlet a warfare characterized by the most intense fanaticism.
Shakespearean Playhouses|Joseph Quincy Adams
Thenceforward a paper war was waged between the two political divisions of journalism.
A Cursory History of Swearing|Julian Sharman
A war will be waged through an unrestricted press upon your government and your people.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III.|E. Farr and E. H. Nolan

British Dictionary definitions for wage

wage

/ (weɪdʒ) /

noun

(often plural) payment in return for work or services, esp that made to workmen on a daily, hourly, weekly, or piece-work basisCompare salary
(as modifier)wage freeze

(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

(often plural) recompense, return, or yield

an obsolete word for pledge

verb (tr)

to engage in

obsolete to pledge or wager

archaic another word for hire (def. 1), hire (def. 2)

Derived forms of wage

wageless, adjectivewagelessness, noun

Word Origin for wage

C14: from Old Northern French wagier to pledge, from wage, of Germanic origin; compare Old English weddian to pledge, wed

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

wage

OTHER WORDS FOR wage

Origin of wage

synonym study for wage

OTHER WORDS FROM wage

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH wage

Words related to wage

How to use wage in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for wage

Derived forms of wage

Word Origin for wage