WordWeb Online

1. Of those who work for wages especially manual or industrial labourers
   "party of the working-class proletariat";
   - propertyless, wage-earning, blue-collar
    
2. Working for hourly wages rather than fixed (e.g. annual) salaries
   "working-class occupations include manual as well as industrial labour";
   - wage-earning

1. A social class comprising those who do manual labour or work for wages
   "there is a shortage of skilled working class in this field";
   - labor [US], labour [Brit, Cdn], proletariat, proletariate [archaic]

Derived forms: working classes

See also: blue-collar, low-class, lower-class

Type of: class, social class, socio-economic class, stratum

Encyclopedia: Working-class