- [uncountable] (especially British English) the act of paying to use something for a short time
- a hire car
- a car hire firm
- The weekly fee covers venue hire and light refreshments.
- The price includes the hire of the hall.
- for hire There are boats for hire on the lake.
- on hire from somebody/something The costumes are on hire from the local theatre.
Homophones higher | hirehigher hire/ˈhaɪə(r)//ˈhaɪər/- higher (high)
- Asparagus grows faster at higher temperatures.
- hire verb
- Can we hire a car here?
- hire noun
- Look! There are rowing boats for hire on the lake!
British/American rent / hire / letrent / hire / letVerbs- You can hire something for a short period of time (British English only), but rent something for a longer period:
- We can hire bikes for a day to explore the town.
- We don’t own our TV, we rent it.
- In North American English, rent is always used. It is sometimes now used in British English instead of hire, too.
- The owners of a thing can hire it out for a short period:
- (British English) Do you hire out bikes?
- We rent out rooms in our house to students.
- Outside a building you could see:
- (British English) To let
- (especially North American English) For rent.
- To hire can also mean to employ somebody, especially in North American English:
- We hired a new secretary.
- The amount of money that you pay to rent something is rent or rental (more formal). When you hire something you pay a hire charge (British English). On a sign outside a shop you might see:
- (British English) Bikes for hire.
Extra Examples- The equipment is on hire from a local company.
- The main expense was the hire of a car.
- a costume hire shop
- vehicles currently on hire
- bicycles for hire, £10 an hour
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- bicycle
- car
- equipment
- …
- car
- charge
- cost
- …
- for hire
- on hire
- on hire from
- …
- [countable] (especially North American English) a person who has recently been given a job by a company
- New hires get raises after a set period of time.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- new
- recent
- potential
- …
Word OriginOld English hȳrian ‘employ someone for wages’, hȳr ‘payment under contract for the use of something’, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch huren (verb), huur (noun).
Idioms
See hire in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee hire in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishply for hire/trade/business
- (British English) to look for customers, passengers, etc. in order to do business
- taxis plying for hire outside the theatre
Check pronunciation:
hire