What does "rent" mean?
A payment made by a tenant at intervals in order to lease a property.
Rent
/ɹɛnt/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A payment made by a tenant at intervals in order to lease a property.
- Grammar: rent is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: tear, abrasion, abysm, abyss.
- Useful contrasts: buy, freeholds, mend.
- Usage evidence: You should pay your rent in advance.
How to use "rent"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "rent" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "rent" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "rent" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "rent" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "rent" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "tear" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "rent", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A payment made by a tenant at intervals in order to lease a property. countable, uncountable
"I am asking £300 a week rent."
- 2 A tear or rip in some surface.
"[O]ne streak of copper-coloured light made a narrow rent between sea and sky."
- 3 the act of rending or ripping or splitting something wordnet
- 4 A similar payment for the use of a product, equipment or a service. countable, uncountable
- 5 A division or schism.
"[T]he White House was considering sending Vice President Humphrey to Cairo to patch up the many rents in U.S.—Egyptian relations."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 an opening made forcibly as by pulling apart wordnet
- 7 A profit from possession of a valuable right, as a restricted license to engage in a trade or business. countable, uncountable
"A New York city taxicab license earns more than $10,000 a year in rent."
- 8 a payment or series of payments made by the lessee to an owner for use of some property, facility, equipment, or service wordnet
- 9 An object for which rent is charged or paid. countable, uncountable
- 10 the return derived from cultivated land in excess of that derived from the poorest land cultivated under similar conditions wordnet
- 11 Income; revenue. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"So bought an annual rent or two, / And liv'd, just as you see I do."
- 12 An amount of virtual currency paid by a player to preserve their character, inventory, etc. between gameplay sessions in a multi-user dungeon. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To take a lease of premises in exchange for rent. transitive
"I rented a house from my friend's parents for a year."
- 2 simple past and past participle of rend form-of, participle, past
- 3 engage for service under a term of contract wordnet
- 4 To grant a lease in return for rent. informal, transitive
"We rented our house to our son's friend for a year."
- 5 grant use or occupation of under a term of contract wordnet
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 To obtain or have temporary possession of an object (e.g. a movie) in exchange for money. transitive
- 7 let for money wordnet
- 8 To be leased or let for rent. informal, intransitive
"The house rents for five hundred dollars a month."
- 9 hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services wordnet
Adjective
- 1 That has been torn or rent; ripped; torn.
"Indeed, we could clearly make out the arch and stony banks of this second cave, and, from their rent and jagged appearance, discovered that, like the first long passage down which we had passed through the cliff before we reached the quivering spur, it had to all appearance been torn in the bowels of the rock by the terrific force of some explosive gas."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"You should pay your rent in advance."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "rent"?
Common synonyms include: tear, abrasion, abysm, abyss, aggravated, aircraft charter.
How do you use "rent" in a sentence?
You should pay your rent in advance.
How do you pronounce "rent"?
Pronounced /ɹɛnt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English rent, rente, from Old French rente, from Early Medieval Latin rendita, from Late Latin rendere, from Latin reddere.
Etymology 2
See rend.