minimum wage

noun

1

: living wage

2

: the lowest wage paid or permitted to be paid

specifically : a wage fixed by legal authority or by contract as the least that may be paid either to employed persons generally or to a particular category of employed persons

Examples of minimum wage in a Sentence

Congress will vote on a bill to raise the minimum wage.

Recent Examples on the Web

The state currently mandates a base pay of $6.75 per hour for these workers, with the employer required to cover the gap if tips don't meet the general minimum wage of $15 per hour. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024

Bank of America, Costco and Home Depot, for example, all raised their minimum wages to $15 or more since the pandemic. —Maria Gracia Santillana Linares, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

California In California, Proposition 32 would increase the minimum wage to $18 from $16. —Dan Mangan,kevin Breuninger,jake Piazza,annie Nova,rebecca Picciotto,ece Yildirim, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2024

Since 1998, states have considered 24 ballot measures to increase the minimum wage; all 24 have passed. —Nathaniel Rakich, ABC News, 4 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

minimum wage

noun

: a wage fixed (as by law) as the least that may be paid to employed persons

Legal Definition

minimum wage

noun

: a wage fixed by contract or especially by law as the least that may be paid either to employees generally or to a particular category of employees compare scale