hire-purchase system

American  

[hahyuhr-pur-chuhs] / ˈhaɪərˈpɜr tʃəs /

noun

British.

1. a system of payment for a commodity in regular installments while using it.

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Etymology

Origin of hire-purchase system

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

To-day he had successfully prosecuted a man who seemed to have lived for some time on the hire-purchase system, and it made him unusually cheerful.

From In the Year of Jubilee by Gissing, George

No: I have that on the hire-purchase system.

From You Never Can Tell by Shaw, Bernard

You can get them on the hire-purchase system.

From People of Position by Boehm, H. Richard

She managed secretly to save enough money to surprise and delight Olivier with a hired piano, which, on the hire-purchase system became their property at the end of a certain number of months.

From Jean Christophe: in Paris The Market-Place, Antoinette, the House by Cannan, Gilbert

Also houses could be built for people whose work takes them to town, but who want good air for their children; the hire-purchase system, you know.

From The Beautiful An Introduction to Psychological Aesthetics by Lee, Vernon