hire
Americanverb (used with object)
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hires,
present (3rd person singular)
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hired,
past participle, past
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hiring
present participle
noun
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hires
plural
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the act of hiring.
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the state or condition of being hired.
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the price or compensation paid or contracted to be paid for the temporary use of something or for personal services or labor; pay.
The laborer is worthy of his hire.
- Synonyms:
- remuneration, salary, wages, stipend, rental
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Informal. a person hired or to be hired.
Most of our new hires are college-educated.
adjective
verb phrase
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hire out to offer or exchange one's services for payment.
He hired himself out as a handyman.
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hire on to obtain employment; take a job.
They hired on as wranglers with the rodeo.
idioms
verb
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to acquire the temporary use of (a thing) or the services of (a person) in exchange for payment
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to employ (a person) for wages
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(often foll by out) to provide (something) or the services of (oneself or others) for an agreed payment, usually for an agreed period
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to pay independent contractors for (work to be done)
noun
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the act of hiring or the state of being hired
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( as modifier )
a hire car
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the price paid or payable for a person's services or the temporary use of something
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( as modifier )
the hire charge
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available for service or temporary use in exchange for payment
Synonym Usage
Hire, charter, rent refer to paying money for the use of something. Hire is a general word, most commonly applied to paying money for labor or services, but is also used in reference to paying for the temporary use of automobiles (usually with a chauffeur), halls, etc.; in New England, it is used in speaking of borrowing money on which interest is to be paid (to distinguish from borrowing from a friend, who would not accept any interest): to hire a gardener, a delivery truck, a hall for a convention. Charter formerly meant to pay for the use of a vessel, but is now applied with increasing frequency to leasing any conveyance for the use of a group: to charter a boat, a bus, a plane. Rent is used in the latter sense, also, but is usually applied to paying a set sum once or at regular intervals for the use of a dwelling, room, personal effects, an automobile (which one drives oneself ), etc.: to rent a business building.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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hireenoun
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hirernoun
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rehireverb
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outhireverb (used with object)
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hirableadjective
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prehiringadjective
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unhiredadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hiresimple
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hiressimple
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have hiredperfect
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has hiredperfect
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am hiringprogressive
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are hiringprogressive
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is hiringprogressive
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have been hiringperfect progressive
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has been hiringperfect progressive
Past
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hiredsimple
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had hiredperfect
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was hiringprogressive
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were hiringprogressive
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had been hiringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hire
First recorded before 1000; (verb) Middle English hiren, Old English hȳrian (cognate with Dutch huren, Low German hüren, Old Frisian hēra ); (noun) Middle English; Old English hȳr; cognate with Dutch huur, Low German hüre (whence Dutch hyre, Swedish hyra, German Heuer ), Frisian hēre
Explanation
When you hire someone, you invite them to work for you or the company you represent. If you manage your local ice cream shop, it might be part of your job to hire extra ice cream scoopers for the busy summer season. Your boss at the animal shelter might hire you immediately if she's desperate for help — or if you impress her as a true animal lover. Once she does, she can call you "a new hire," or a recently hired employee. It's less common in the U.S. than in Britain, but you can also say you hire a car when you rent or lease one. Hire comes from the Old English hyr, which means both "wages" and "interest."
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.
See Examples For:
A personality hire is generally thought of as someone who is valued for their charisma as much as, if not more than, their skills.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
As AI changes what employers want in a candidate, one type of worker may have an edge — the personality hire.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion to hire a consultant to reevaluate how the county allocates Measure B funds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Intel’s recent hire of SK Hynix veteran Seok-Hee Lee may offer clues, Tan suggested, though the company is not yet ready to reveal its plans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
“About you managing the business side of things until I can hire someone.”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Nine-year-old Rowan, meanwhile, touts its medical advisory board, its clinical piercing standard, and the fact that it hires licensed nurses as piercers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Elon Musk outlined ambitious targets for SpaceX following its first-ever earnings report; Procter & Gamble will buy supplement company Thorne; plus, Portillo’s hires new CFO.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
This being said, some hires are just bad fits or aren’t able to grow into the position.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
As of last summer, under the city’s Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act, the person who hires the broker must pay the broker’s fee.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Nowadays, when a point of justice is obscure and difficult, each side hires lawyers to argue it out.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Iger and Kushner reportedly hired investment bankers and discussed making a majority investment in a Las Vegas team, people aware of the discussions told The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
For many, resolution came only after they hired lawyers or complained in the press.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Kusman was hired as a labourer on the Cavustepe excavations after his military service in the 1960s and there encountered his first stele.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican who served as attorney general for eight years, during which time he hired Murrill as the state’s solicitor general, opposed 10 of 12 compensation claims during his tenure.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
Seventeen-year-old Kate Fox was the main attraction in a group of mediums hired to give free sittings at set hours.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
With hiring managers prioritizing in-person work and AI able to tackle routine tasks that traditionally monopolized entry-level workers’ time, one could argue being agreeable is paramount.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
But not hiring, which brings us to the jobless part of the jobless boom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Of course, it’s always been the case that to stand out in the hiring process one needs to offer something that other job candidates don’t.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
In the private sector, larger firms such as Kanematsu, a major general trading company, are hiring savvy graduates such as Uta Yamaguchi who joined in April.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Despite hiring an investigator, spending thousands of francs, and poring through reams of German documentation, Marie-Laure and Etienne were never able to determine what exactly happened to her father.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
