rent

verb

rented; renting; rents

transitive verb

1

: to grant the possession and enjoyment of in exchange for rent

2

: to take and hold under an agreement to pay rent

intransitive verb

1

: to be for rent

2

a

: to obtain the possession and use of a place or article in exchange for rent

b

: to allow the possession and use of property in exchange for rent

rentability

ˌren-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

rentable

ˈren-tə-bəl 

adjective

Synonyms of rent

• lease

Choose the Right Synonym for rent

hire, let, lease, rent, charter mean to engage or grant for use at a price.

hire and let, strictly speaking, are complementary terms, hire implying the act of engaging or taking for use and let the granting of use.

we hired a car for the summer

decided to let the cottage to a young couple

lease strictly implies a letting under the terms of a contract but is often applied to hiring on a lease.

the diplomat leased an apartment for a year

rent stresses the payment of money for the full use of property and may imply either hiring or letting.

instead of buying a house, they decided to rent

will not rent to families with children

charter applies to the hiring or letting of a vehicle usually for exclusive use.

charter a bus to go to the game

Examples of rent in a Sentence

We rented our friends' cottage for the month of August.

Do you own or rent?

We rented them the upstairs apartment in our house.

The cottage rents for $400 a week.

Recent Examples on the Web

Thanks to rent forgiveness and government help, their businesses survived, and when the pandemic abated, business began to pick up. —Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2026

In a bid to expand her business, the young wealth manager rented out a commercial kitchen in the Lower East Side for six months. —Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 7 June 2026

In the mid-1960s, Neil Young and the Buffalo Springfield are said to have rehearsed there before their first tour, and Janis Joplin and her band rented rooms while recording their first album. —Max Kutner, HollywoodReporter, 7 June 2026

For a four-wheel experience, rent a golf cart from Carlsbad Golf Carts or a Moke at Carlsbad Moke. —Dyana Lederman, Travel + Leisure, 7 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing rent

• economic rent
• for rent
• ground rent
• low-rent
• rack-rent
• rent-a-car
• rent-a-cop
• rent control
• rent strike

Rhymes for rent

• bent
• blent
• cent
• ent
• fent
• lent
• meant
• pent
• rente
• scent
• sent
• spent

Kids Definition

rent

1 of 4 noun

ˈrent 

: money paid for the use of property : a periodic payment made by a tenant to the owner for the use of the owner's property

rent

2 of 4 verb

1

: to take and hold property under an agreement to pay rent

2

: to give the possession and use of in return for rent

rented a cottage to friends

3

: to be for rent

the room rents for $40 a week

rentable

-ə-bəl 

adjective

rent

3 of 4

past and past participle of rend

rent

4 of 4 noun

1

: an opening (as in cloth) made by or as if by tearing

2

: an act or instance of tearing

Etymology

Middle English rente "income from property," from early French rente "payment, income," derived from Latin rendere "to yield"

from a dialect word rent "to tear," from Middle English renten, an altered form of renden "to tear, rend"

Legal Definition

rent

1 of 2 noun

1

a

: a return made by a tenant or occupant of real property to the owner for possession and use thereof

especially : a sum of money agreed upon between a landlord and tenant for the use of real property

b

in the civil law of Louisiana : a contract by which one party conveys to another to hold as owner a tract of land or other immovable property in perpetuity in exchange for payment of an annual sum or quantity of fruits

c

: the amount paid by a hirer of personal property to the owner for the use thereof

d

: a royalty under a mineral lease

2

: the portion of the income of an economy (as of a nation) attributable to land as a factor of production in addition to capital and labor

rent

2 of 2 transitive verb

1

: to grant the possession and enjoyment of in exchange for rent

2

: to take and hold under an agreement to pay rent

intransitive verb

1

: to be for rent

2

a

: to obtain use and possession of a place or property in exchange for rent

b

: to allow the possession and use of property in exchange for rent

renter noun

also rentor

ˈren-tər