wages

/ˈwāj/

Middle English, pledge, recompense, from Anglo-French wage, gage, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German wetti pledge

noun

  1. a payment usually of money for labor or services usually according to contract and on an hourly, daily, or piecework basis —often used in plural

  2. the share of the national product attributable to labor as a factor in production

  3. recompense, reward —usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction

verb

  1. to engage in or carry on

  2. to be in process of occurring

wage war

plural noun

  1. wages measured in money as distinct from actual purchasing power