employer
Americannoun
-
employers
plural
-
a person or business that employs one or more people, especially for wages or salary.
a fair employer.
-
a person or thing that makes use of or occupies someone or something.
an inadequate employer of one's time.
noun
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a person, business, firm, etc, that employs workers
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a person who employs; user
Usage
What does employer mean? An employer is a person, company, or organization that employs people—pays them for work. The people who are paid to work are called employees. Employers provide employment. Less commonly, employer can mean something that occupies someone or someone that uses something (the word employ can also mean to use), as in Be a good employer of your time. Example: If the factory closes, thousands of people will lose their jobs—it’s the largest employer in the county.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of employer
Explanation
An employer is the person or organization that you work for. Can't find a job? Look at the bright side: you don't have to cater to the whims of any employer! The verb employ means "to make use of." An employer hires an employee, or worker, in order to employ him at various tasks. A factory owner is an employer who might hire people to work on an assembly line. If you're a teacher, then your school is your employer. If you’re lucky enough to have a generous employer, then you’ll probably want to stay at your job for a while!
Vocabulary lists containing employer
Like A Boss: Words for the Person in Charge
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 2
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -er, -or
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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:
His employer rents out the robots for events such as OpenAI’s conference.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
These include a £10bn anti-missile defence system, 50,000 new prison places and halving the rate of employer national insurance on earnings for people aged between 21 to 24.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The refunds include interest, which is taxable, requiring FedEx to collect information like Social Security numbers or employer identification numbers for tax forms, the company says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
Even the employer survey wasn’t as bad as the top line.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
It was perhaps the only criticism ever made of Mr. Clutter as an employer.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
Immigration lawyers point out that the action is not a blanket suspension of green card applications for all employers, but a targeted enforcement freeze on the Permanent Labor Certification program for the eight named corporations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
U.S. jobless claims decreased for the fifth week in a row as employers continue to keep their workforce levels static.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Many employers have given raises that match inflation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Court records show Rush was accused of falsely telling employers he had been a navy pilot.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
Aware of the rivalry between the two schools, employers searched for some middle ground of impartiality, fearful that any inadvertent slip might cause a mutiny from one half of the work force or the other.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
