lease

¹ American  

[lees] / lis /

noun

1. a contract renting land, buildings, etc., to another; a contract or instrument conveying property to another for a specified period or for a period determinable at the will of either lessor or lessee in consideration of rent or other compensation.

2. the property leased.

3. the period of time for which a lease is made.

   a five-year lease.

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verb (used with object)

leases, present (3rd person singular) leased, past participle, past leasing present participle

1. to grant the temporary possession or use of (lands, tenements, etc.) to another, usually for compensation at a fixed rate; let.

   She plans to lease her apartment to a friend.

2. to take or hold by lease.

   He leased the farm from the sheriff.

   Synonyms:

   hire, charter, rent

verb (used without object)

leases, present (3rd person singular) leased, past participle, past leasing present participle

1. to grant a lease; let or rent.

   to lease at a lower rental.

idioms

1. a new lease on life, a chance to improve one's situation or to live longer or more happily.

   Plastic surgery gave him a new lease on life.

lease ² American  

[lees] / lis /

noun

Textiles.

1. a system for keeping the warp in position and under control by alternately crossing the warp yarn over and under the lease rods.

2. the order of drawing in the warp ends.

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lease ¹ British  

/ liːs /

noun

1. a contract by which property is conveyed to a person for a specified period, usually for rent

2. the instrument by which such property is conveyed

3. the period of time for which it is conveyed

4. a prospect of renewed health, happiness, etc

   a new lease of life

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verb

1. to grant possession of (land, buildings, etc) by lease

2. to take a lease of (property); hold under a lease

lease ² British  

/ liːz /

noun

1. dialect open pasture or common

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lease Cultural  

1. A contract that grants possession of property for a specified period of time in return for some kind of compensation.

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lease More Idioms  

1. see new lease on life.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• leaser
  noun
• leasable
  adjective
• leaseless
  adjective
• unleasable
  adjective
• unleased
  adjective
• well-leased
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• leasing
  present
• leased
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• lease
  simple
• leases
  simple
• have leased
  perfect
• has leased
  perfect
• am leasing
  progressive
• are leasing
  progressive
• is leasing
  progressive
• have been leasing
  perfect progressive
• has been leasing
  perfect progressive

Past

• leased
  simple
• had leased
  perfect
• was leasing
  progressive
• were leasing
  progressive
• had been leasing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will lease
  simple
• will have leased
  perfect
• will be leasing
  progressive
• will have been leasing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of lease¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English les, from Anglo-French les, Old French lais, leis, noun derivative of lesser “to lease,” literally, “let go,” ultimately from Latin laxāre to release; see also lax

Origin of lease²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English lese “length or coil of thread,” variant of lesh leash

Explanation

To lease something is to borrow it in exchange for money. If you lease a car from a dealer, for example, you make payments and you get to drive the car, but at the end of the contract you have to give it back. As a noun, a lease is both the thing you are contracting to rent (the car itself is a lease) and the contract spelling out the terms of use — in other words, a rental agreement. Be sure to check the fine print on your apartment lease to avoid any unpleasant surprises when you move out — like owing money for painting over that hideous wallpaper in the living room.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lease leases leased leasing

“Ensuring both security and seclusion, this exclusive property presents a distinctive opportunity for the most discerning tenant and is available for lease fully furnished,” the listing adds.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

I’m not a lawyer, but as I understand it, the Onion has reached a deal to lease Infowars’ IP, essentially.

From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026

Yet gamers often beg studios to remake their favourite titles and give them a new lease of life with modern tech.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

The Housing Ministry notified the club in May that its longstanding lease had been terminated and the government would take over the land.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

After that he pulled himself together, and when the chance came along to lease and sharecrop a hundred acres from a big strawberry grower up north in Santa Clara Valley he took it.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston

Lineage, which leases the space, has said repeatedly that it does not own, operate or maintain the solar panels.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Critics argue that prime government land in the middle of India’s most expensive cities should not be occupied by exclusive clubs that enjoy heavily subsidized leases.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

She says the Australian system is "much better than leasehold" because ownership and building management are set out in legislation, rather than relying on millions of different leases.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

This fund was created in 1976, with state revenues arising from oil leases to benefit all Alaskans.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

The oilmen anxiously pored over geological maps and tried to glean intelligence about leases from men they employed as “rock hounds” and spies.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

The lawsuit alleges that the leased land is zoned exclusively for agricultural use and that the federal government violated laws requiring state and county notification, as well as procedural steps required before beginning construction.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

Many of these dorm-room disrupters have set up shop in newly leased properties across San Francisco this summer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026

While Alphabet plans to put up to $190 billion toward capital expenditures this year, the company could increasingly rely on financial partners or leased data-center space to lower its upfront infrastructure costs, Nowak said.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

In fact, including leased capacity from third-party data center owners, Google will have significantly closed its gap with Amazon by 2030, according to Aterio.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

The floor was already fully leased, Mr. Anderson added.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

SpaceX earlier this year acquired Musk's AI start-up xAI, recently renamed SpaceXAI, external and best known for the controversial chatbot Grok, and also started leasing data centre capacity to other tech companies.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

According to the Financial Times, Castlelake is a major player in aircraft leasing, with a fleet of 375 planes rented out to airlines including Etihad, Qantas, Air India Express, Frontier and Viva.

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

Finance and insurance were up in April, more than countering a contraction in March, while real estate, and rental and leasing activity grew for a third consecutive month.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

Army is leasing base land to companies for critical mineral processing plants to establish a domestic supply chain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

She waited until she received a check for several hundred dollars from the company that was leasing the drilling rights.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

Related Words

• charter
• hire
• rent out
• sublet