hire

[ hahyuhr ]

verb (used with object)

, hired, hir·ing.

1. to engage the services of (someone) for wages or other payment:

   The company hired three new engineers in the last quarter.

   Synonyms: employ

2. to engage the temporary use of at a set price; rent:

   We hired a limousine to get us to the wedding in style.

   Synonyms: lease

noun

1. the act of hiring.
2. the state or condition of being hired.
3. 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

4. Informal. a person hired or to be hired:

   Most of our new hires are college-educated.

adjective

1. British. available for hire; rental:

   a hire car.

verb phrase

1. to obtain employment; take a job:

   They hired on as wranglers with the rodeo.

2. to offer or exchange one's services for payment:

   He hired himself out as a handyman.

hire

/ ˈhaɪə /

verb

1. to acquire the temporary use of (a thing) or the services of (a person) in exchange for payment
2. to employ (a person) for wages
3. often foll by out to provide (something) or the services of (oneself or others) for an agreed payment, usually for an agreed period
4. trfoll byout to pay independent contractors for (work to be done)

noun

1. 1. the act of hiring or the state of being hired
   2. ( as modifier )

      a hire car

2. 1. the price paid or payable for a person's services or the temporary use of something
   2. ( as modifier )

      the hire charge

3. for hire
   for hireon hire available for service or temporary use in exchange for payment

Derived Forms

• ˈhirer, noun
• ˈhirable, adjective

Other Words From

• hir·ee [hahy, uh, r-, ee], noun
• hir·er noun
• out·hire verb (used with object) outhired outhiring
• pre·hir·ing adjective
• re·hire verb rehired rehiring noun
• un·hired adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hire¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of hire¹

Old English hӯrian; related to Old Frisian hēra to lease, Middle Dutch hūren

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. for hire, available for use or service in exchange for payment. Also on hire.

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

A number of companies across the country, including Glassdoor, StubHub, Funding Circle, Yelp, Checkr and even the National Institutes of Health, either paused hiring or canceled their internship programs altogether.

From TechCrunch

Since March, it’s added over 120 hires globally, 15% of those have been in London and Singapore.

From Digiday

Communications software maker Slack has hired a new chief people officer.

From Fortune

Now Grant has joined the chorus of work and management experts who are betting on technology as a way to improve fairness in hiring.

From Quartz

Imagine hiring someone without being properly vetted and now this person comes in and has to work three times as hard to be accepted by the community.

From Voice of San Diego

Like any service for hire, it is extremely important for the traffickers to provide a reputable service, criminal as it is.

From The Daily Beast

Grimm has even been actively trying hire staff members for his office in recent weeks after several former aides deserted him.

From The Daily Beast

The assistant manager at the A&F store had found Elauf qualified for the position and was apparently going to hire her.

From The Daily Beast

They hire other people to write their books for them, whether memoir or fiction.

From The Daily Beast

At the end of his internship, the Davis County School District decided to hire him.

From The Daily Beast

One who uses another's automobile without consent or knowledge of the owner, may be liable to pay a reasonable hire therefor.

From Project Gutenberg

Should he hire a horse and kill the animal by rash driving, he would be liable for its value.

From Project Gutenberg

Some landlords hire agents to attend to their property and to the collection of rents.

From Project Gutenberg

Shall I sit by the roadside and ask every man who passes by if he wants to hire himself out 'on shares'?

From Project Gutenberg

The owner of the mules used on this journey resides here, and here, likewise, the money for their hire is paid.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• appoint
• bring in
• draft
• employ
• engage
• enlist
• lease
• obtain
• pick
• promise
• rent
• retain
• select