charter 1 of 2

charter

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noun

Synonym Chooser

How is the word charter different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of charter are hire, lease, let, and rent. While all these words mean "to engage or grant for use at a price," charter applies to the hiring or letting of a vehicle usually for exclusive use.

charter a bus to go to the game

How do hire and let relate to one another, in the sense of charter?

Both 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

In what contexts can lease take the place of charter?

While in some cases nearly identical to charter, 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

When would rent be a good substitute for charter?

The words rent and charter are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, 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

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of charter
Verb
Fewer predators mean fewer charter trips, fewer tourists and fewer dollars in the pockets of working families. Phil Zalesak, Baltimore Sun, 16 Aug. 2025 One of my charters at [Salesforce] was to bring the culture back, to bring the soul back at the company. Megan Poinski, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Noun
The Beta Sigma chapter of Omega Psi Phi was chartered on the campus on Feb. 28, 1936. Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 21 July 2025 In a move set to elevate rail travel across the American Southwest, Canyon Spirit, the luxury train experience formerly known as Rocky Mountaineer's Rockies to the Red Rocks, is chartering a stunning new course. Susmita Baral, Travel + Leisure, 31 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for charter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for charter
Verb
  • Visiting last fall Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in southeast Alaska, the largest national park in the country at 13.2 million acres, the friends rented an RV in the town of McCarthy, population 107 according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
    Keith Matheny, Freep.com, 23 Aug. 2025
  • According to Chase Buchanan’s latest data, rent for a family apartment in France can be as low as about $1,100 in cities other than Paris, and groceries, public transportation and other expenses are also significantly lower than in the US.
    Blane Bachelor, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • SpaceX pulled off the maneuver for the first time during the May flight test, which requires less propellant to be held in reserve and enables the rocket to carry a heavier payload.
    Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2025
  • These provisions got a boost under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which enabled more Americans to buy coverage.
    Alex Knapp, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • The latest multilateral environmental treaty being negotiated by the United Nations has just encountered a major setback in negotiations.
    Saleem H. Ali, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
  • Protestors gather outside the Palais des Nations in Geneva, during talks for a global plastics treaty.
    Joseph Winters, Wired News, 16 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • While Levine Cava warned the grant funding is one-time money that shouldn’t be counted on in 2027, charities providing help for the elderly, after-school programs and other services are urging the mayor and commissioners to find more money to restore the grants fully.
    Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 23 Aug. 2025
  • Spain’s economy has also been bolstered by the European Union’s Next Generation EU funds which has made 163 billion euros available to Spain, through grants and loans.
    Gaelle Legrand, CNBC, 23 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • But then Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell hired Flores in 2023.
    Jourdan Rodrigue, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2025
  • The company hired Ballard, and Carnival’s chairman, Micky Arison, secured the highest-possible-level meeting: with the national-security adviser, John Bolton; the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo; and Trump.
    Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • After former President Joe Biden's administration released an initial $60 million in emergency funds in the days following the disaster, a stopgap spending bill passed in December authorized federal funds to cover the cost of the replacement.
    Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2025
  • The show of force was so obviously an authoritarian flex that Newsom filed a Freedom of Information Act request demanding to know who authorized what and why.
    Gustavo Arellano, Mercury News, 22 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • The two parties eventually agreed on a one-year contract extension.
    Eduardo Tansley, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2025
  • Not only was he considered a generational talent when the Jaguars took him No. 1 overall in 2022, but Jacksonville also handed him a $275 million contract extension last summer.
    Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • The 650 companies across 56 industries were recognized for strong performances in four scoring categories: workforce performance, patent and design advancements, environmental commitment and ethical compliance.
    Gordon G. Chang, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Use LLMs to extract latent value from scientific literature, patent databases or trial results.
    Igor Trunov, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Charter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/charter. Accessed 1 Sep. 2025.

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