wage
Americannoun
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Often wages. money that is paid or received for work or services, as by the hour, day, or week.
- Synonyms:
- remuneration, compensation, emolument, earnings
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Economics. Usually wages. the share of the products of industry received by labor for its work (as distinct from the share going to capital).
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(used with a singular or plural verb) Usually wages. recompense or return.
The wages of sin is death.
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Obsolete. a pledge or security.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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(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
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( as modifier )
wage freeze
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(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
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(often plural) recompense, return, or yield
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an obsolete word for pledge
Synonym Usage
See pay 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have wagedperfect
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has wagedperfect 3rd person singular
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is wagingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am wagingprogressive 1st person singular
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wagessingular 3rd person
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wagingparticiple
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has been wagingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been wagingperfect progressive
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are wagingprogressive
Past
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had wagedperfect
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was wagingprogressive singular
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wagedsimple
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wagedparticiple
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were wagingprogressive plural
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had been wagingperfect progressive
Future
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."
Vocabulary lists containing wage
Labor Day Lexicon: Words That Put You To Work
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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List 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Being fenced in on rates, with no fight to wage there, frees him to spend his energy on it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026
Or should the Fed place greater weight on other indicators of labor-market health like real wage growth, which has fallen 0.7% over the past year?
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
Jobs connected to mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction also saw strong wage growth, according to the analysis.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026
Particularly in hospitality, which has seen sharp rises in the national living wage and employers' national insurance contributions.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
Tom became a railroad detective, and the steady wage made it possible to raise a family.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
