Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Hire

//ˈhaɪ(.)ə// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
Noun
  1. 1
    A person who has been hired, especially in a cohort. countable

    "We pair up each of our new hires with one of our original hires."

  2. 2
    the act of hiring something or someone wordnet
  3. 3
    The state of being hired, or having a job; employment. uncountable

    "When my grandfather retired, he had over twenty mechanics in his hire."

  4. 4
    a newly hired employee wordnet
  5. 5
    Payment for the temporary use of something. uncountable

    "The sign offered pedalos on hire."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    Reward. obsolete, uncountable

    "I vvill him reaue of armes, the victors hire, / And of that ſhield, more vvorthy of good knight; / For vvhy ſhould a dead dog be deckt in armour bright?"

Verb
  1. 1
    To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment. Australia, UK, transitive

    "We hired a car for two weeks because ours had broken down."

  2. 2
    engage for service under a term of contract wordnet
  3. 3
    To occupy premises in exchange for rent. UK, transitive

    "I do not mean to insist here on the disadvantage of hiring compared with owning, but it is evident that the savage owns his shelter because it costs so little, while the civilized man hires his commonly because he cannot afford to own it; nor can he, in the long run, any better afford to hire."

  4. 4
    engage or hire for work wordnet
  5. 5
    To employ; to obtain the services of (a person) in exchange for remuneration; to give someone a job. transitive

    "The company had problems when it tried to hire more skilled workers."

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services wordnet
  2. 7
    To exchange the services of for remuneration. transitive

    "They hired themselves out as day laborers.  They hired out their basement for Inauguration week."

  3. 8
    To accomplish by paying for services. UK, transitive

    "After waiting two years for her husband to finish the tiling, she decided to hire it done."

  4. 9
    To accept employment. intransitive

    "They hired out as day laborers."

  5. 10
    (neologism) (in the Jobs-to-be-Done Theory) To buy something in order for it to perform a function, to do a job transitive

    "They hired a milkshake."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English hire, hyre, here, hure, from Old English hȳr (“employment for wages; pay for service; interest on money lent”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūʀiju (“payment”), from the verb *hūʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *hūzijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kewHs- or *kweHs-. Compare Hittite 𒆪𒊭𒀭 (kuššan-, “fee, pay, wages, price”). Cognate with West Frisian hier (“hire”), Dutch huur (“lease, rental”), German Low German Hüür (“lease, rental”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English hiren, hyren, from Old English hȳrian (“to hire”), from the noun (see above). Compare West Frisian hiere (“to rent, lease”), Dutch huren (“to rent, lease”), Low German hüren (“to rent”), Danish hyre (“to hire”), Swedish hyra (“to hire”). Eclipsed Middle English souden (“to hire, employ, enlist”), borrowed from Old French souder, soudre, souldre (“to take into employ, pay”); see English sold (“salary, military pay”).

Etymology 3

* As a Dutch and German surname, Americanized from Heier, Heyer. * As an English surname, variant of Heare. * As an Irish surname, variant of Hare.

See also for "hire"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: hire