1. working for hourly wages rather than fixed (e.g. annual) salaries - working-class occupations include manual as well as industrial labor • Syn: working-class • Similar to: blue-collar 2. of those who work for wages especially manual or industrial laborers - "party of the propertyless proletariat"- G.B.Shaw • Syn: propertyless, working-class, blue-collar • Similar to: lower-class, low-class