hire

UK: /ˈhaɪə^r/ US: /haɪr/ ,(hī^ər)

Inflections of 'hire' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

hires

v 3rd person singular

hiring

v pres p

hired

v past

hired

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

hire /haɪr/   v., hired, hir•ing, n. 
v. 

1. to employ (someone) for wages:
   [~ + object] to hire a clerk.
2. to pay for the temporary use of (something);
   rent:
   [~ + object] hired a boat.
3. hire on, [no object] to take a job:
   hired on as wranglers with the rodeo.
4. hire out, to offer or exchange one's services for payment: [~ + object + out]
   He hired himself out as a handyman.
   [~ + out + object]
   His office hired out skilled workers for a fee.

n. 

5. [uncountable] the act of hiring;
   the condition of being hired.
6. Business, Informal Terms a person hired or to be hired:
   [countable] the new hires on the job.

Idioms

7. Idioms for hire, available for use or service in exchange for payment:
   limousines for hire.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

hire  (hī^ər), v., hired, hir•ing, n., adj. 
v.t. 

1. to engage the services of (a person or persons) for wages or other payment:
   to hire a clerk.
2. to engage the temporary use of at a set price;
   rent:
   to hire a limousine.
3. hire on, to obtain employment;
   take a job:
   They hired on as wranglers with the rodeo.
4. hire out, to offer or exchange one's services for payment:
   He hired himself out as a handyman.

n. 

5. the act of hiring.
6. the state or condition of being hired.
7. 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.
8. Communications, Business, Informal Terms [Informal.] a person hired or to be hired:
   Most of our new hires are college-educated.
9. Idioms for hire, available for use or service in exchange for payment. Also, on hire. 

adj. 

10. British Terms available for hire;
    rental:
    a hire car.

• bef. 1000; (verb, verbal) Middle English hiren, Old English hȳrian (cognate with Dutch huren, Low German hüren, Old Frisian hēra); (noun, nominal) Middle English; Old English hȳr; cognate with Dutch huur, Low German hüre (whence Dutch hyre, Swedish hyra, German Heuer), Frisian hēre

hir•ee′, n. 
hir′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. employ.
• 2. lease.
  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.
• 7. rent, rental; stipend, wages, salary.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

hire / ˈhaɪə/ verb (transitive)

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 followed by out) to provide (something) or the services of (oneself or others) for an agreed payment, usually for an agreed period
4. (transitive) followed by out: to pay independent contractors for (work to be done)

noun

1. the act of hiring or the state of being hired
2. (as modifier): a hire car
3. the price paid or payable for a person's services or the temporary use of something
4. for hire, on hire ⇒ available for service or temporary use in exchange for payment

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

ˈhirable, ˈhireable adjective

ˈhirer noun