Adjacent Words

Wage definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WAGE, v.t.
1. To lay; to bet; to throw down as a pledge; to stake; to put at hazard on the event of a contest. Thisis the common popular sense of the word in New England; as, to wage a dollar; to wage a horse.
2. To venture; to hazard.
To wake and wage a danger profitless.
3. To make; to begin; to carry on; that is, to go forward or advance to attack, as in invasion or aggression; used in the phrase, to wage war. he waged war with all his enemies.
He ponderd which of all his sons was fit
To reign, and wage immortal war with wit.
4. To set to hire.
Thou must wage Thy works for wealth. [Not in use.]
5. To take to hire; to hire for pay; to employ for wages; as eaged soldiers. He was well waged and rewarded.
To wage oness law, to give security to make ones law. The defendent is then to swear that he owes nothing to the plaintiff, and eleven neighbors, called compurgators, are to avow upon their oaths, that they believe in their consciences he has declared the truth. This is called wager of law.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: something that remunerates; "wages were paid by check"; "he wasted his pay on drink"; "they saved a quarter of all their earnings" [syn: wage, pay, earnings, remuneration, salary] v
1: carry on (wars, battles, or campaigns); "Napoleon and Hitler waged war against all of Europe" [syn: engage, wage]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, pledge, recompense, from Anglo-French wage, gage, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German wetti pledge — more at wed Date: 14th century 1. a. 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 b. plural the share of the national product attributable to labor as a factor in production 2. recompense, reward — usually used in plural butsingular or plural in construction <the wages of sin is death — Romans
6:23 (Revised Standard Version)> • wageless adjective II. verb (waged; waging) Etymology: Middle English, to offer surety, put up as a stake, hire, from Anglo-French *wager, gager, from wage Date: 14th century transitive verb to engage in or carry on <wage war> <wage a campaign> intransitive verb to be in process of occurring <the riot waged for several hours — American Guide Series: Maryland>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 (in sing. or pl.) a fixed regular payment, usu. daily or weekly, made by an employer to an employee, esp. to a manual or unskilled worker (cf. SALARY). 2 (in sing. or pl.) requital (the wages of sin is death). 3 (in pl.) Econ. the part of total production that rewards labour rather than remunerating capital. --v.tr. carry on (a war, conflict, or contest). Phrases and idioms: living wage a wage that affords the means of normal subsistence. wage-claim = pay-claim (see PAY(1)). wage-earner a person who works for wages. wages council a board of workers' and employers' representatives determining wages where there is no collective bargaining. wage slave a person dependent on income from labour in conditions like slavery. Etymology: ME f. AF & ONF wage, OF g(u)age, f. Gmc, rel. to GAGE(1), WED

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wage Wage, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Waged; p. pr. & vb. n. Waging.] [OE. wagen, OF. wagier, gagier, to pledge, promise, F. gager to wager, lay, bet, fr. LL. wadium a pledge; of Teutonic origin; cf. Goth. wadi a pledge, gawadj[=o]n to pledge, akin to E. wed, G. wette a wager. See Wed, and cf. Gage.] 1. To pledge; to hazard on the event of a contest; to stake; to bet, to lay; to wager; as, to wage a dollar. --Hakluyt. My life I never but as a pawn To wage against thy enemies. --Shak. 2. To expose one's self to, as a risk; to incur, as a danger; to venture; to hazard. ``Too weak to wage an instant trial with the king.'' --Shak. To wake and wage a danger profitless. --Shak. 3. To engage in, as a contest, as if by previous gage or pledge; to carry on, as a war. [He pondered] which of all his sons was fit To reign and wage immortal war with wit. --Dryden. The two are waging war, and the one triumphs by the destruction of the other. --I. Taylor. 4. To adventure, or lay out, for hire or reward; to hire out. [Obs.] ``Thou . . . must wage thy works for wealth.'' --Spenser. 5. To put upon wages; to hire; to employ; to pay wages to. [Obs.] Abundance of treasure which he had in store, wherewith he might wage soldiers. --Holinshed. I would have them waged for their labor. --Latimer. 6. (O. Eng. Law) To give security for the performance of. --Burrill. To wage battle (O. Eng. Law), to give gage, or security, for joining in the duellum, or combat. See Wager of battel, under Wager, n. --Burrill. To wage one's law (Law), to give security to make one's law. See Wager of law, under Wager, n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wage Wage, v. i. To bind one's self; to engage. [Obs.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wage Wage, n. [OF. wage, gage, guarantee, engagement. See Wage, v. t. ] 1. That which is staked or ventured; that for which one incurs risk or danger; prize; gage. [Obs.] ``That warlike wage.'' --Spenser. 2. That for which one labors; meed; reward; stipulated payment for service performed; hire; pay; compensation; -- at present generally used in the plural. See Wages. ``My day's wage.'' --Sir W. Scott. ``At least I earned my wage.'' --Thackeray. ``Pay them a wage in advance.'' --J. Morley. ``The wages of virtue.'' --Tennyson. By Tom Thumb, a fairy page, He sent it, and doth him engage, By promise of a mighty wage, It secretly to carry. --Drayton. Our praises are our wages. --Shak. Existing legislation on the subject of wages. --Encyc. Brit. Note: Wage is used adjectively and as the first part of compounds which are usually self-explaining; as, wage worker, or wage-worker; wage-earner, etc. Board wages. See under 1st Board. Syn: Hire; reward; stipend; salary; allowance; pay; compensation; remuneration; fruit.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(wages, waging, waged) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Someone's wages are the amount of money that is regularly paid to them for the work that they do. His wages have gone up... This may end efforts to set a minimum wage well above the poverty line. N-COUNT 2. If a person, group, or country wages a campaign or a war, they start it and continue it over a period of time. ...the three factions that had been waging a civil war... VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Bet, stake, pledge, lay, wager, hazard. 2. Undertake (as war), carry on, engage in.

Moby Thesaurus

base pay, carry on, compensation, conduct, dismissal wage, do, earnings, employ, engage in, escalator clause, escalator plan, exercise, financial remuneration, follow, go in for, gross income, guaranteed annual wage, hire, income, living wage, minimum wage, net income, pay, pay and allowances, payment, payroll, portal-to-portal pay, practice, prosecute, purchasing power, pursue, real wages, remuneration, salary, severance pay, sliding scale, specialize in, tackle, take on, take to, take up, take-home, take-home pay, taxable income, total compensation, undertake, use, wage control, wage freeze, wage reduction, wage rollback, wage scale, wages, wages after deductions, wages after taxes, work at