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hire

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noun

Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of hire are charter, lease, let, and rent. While all these words 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

In what contexts can charter take the place of hire?

The synonyms charter and hire are sometimes interchangeable, but charter applies to the hiring or letting of a vehicle usually for exclusive use.

charter a bus to go to the game

When can lease be used instead of hire?

The words lease and hire can be used in similar contexts, but 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 is it sensible to use rent instead of hire?

Although the words rent and hire have much in common, 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 hire
Verb
Kennedy said Geier wasn't hired to do research, but to examine data collected by the CDC's Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD). Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 6 June 2025 Kim Ng, who became the first female GM in the history of major North American men’s pro team sports when the Miami Marlins hired her to run the team’s baseball operations in 2020, is taking on a new challenge: building softball’s version of the WNBA. Sean Gregory, Time, 6 June 2025
Noun
That investment is returned to the state through individual income taxes from the hire of employees, business income taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes — not just from the biotech firms but also from the businesses that support and feed the ecosystem surrounding biotech. Bill Claffey, Hartford Courant, 2 June 2025 Under the new agreement, workers will receive pay increases averaging 19.3% and the company’s wage floor for new hires will rise from the $15 an hour the company initially proposed to $20 an hour. Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 2 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for hire
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hire
Verb
  • The group who rents out the synagogue decided that women are allowed to pants, though Barbara notes that she’s never seen the pastor’s wife in anything but skirts or dresses.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 June 2025
  • That’s because nobody appears to be renting in the Hamptons this summer.
    Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 11 June 2025
Verb
  • Becker and colleagues employed a Pavlov-like research design to figure out whether people can decouple the sensation of pain from the experience of that pain.
    Peter Ubel, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025
  • Instead, Lloyd employed a bare stage and an ensemble of actors dressed all in black.
    Jenelle Riley, Variety, 9 June 2025
Noun
  • Since your job was seasonal, the terms of your employment may have also been governed by a contract or agreement.
    Johnny C. Taylor Jr, USA Today, 4 June 2025
  • The irony is elegant: the same technological revolution threatening employment also provides tools for managing its social consequences.
    Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025
Noun
  • The two have grown close in the months since Fried signed an eight-year, $218 million deal with the Yankees, which slightly bested Rodón’s $27 million average annual salary.
    Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 8 June 2025
  • Currently, City Council members’ and the mayor’s salaries are determined by the four-member Salary Setting Commission, which operates independently.
    Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 7 June 2025
Verb
  • One way, Park said, would be to have researchers recruit a large, representative sample of patients, measure their levels of exposure and follow them for years, perhaps until death.
    The New York Times News Service Syndicate, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2025
  • Over 400 adults with a diabetic foot ulcer that appeared closed or healed to the eye were recruited to the study.
    Paul McClure June 02, New Atlas, 2 June 2025
Noun
  • Without needing to file a lawsuit or step foot in a courtroom, the Department of Education and the Department of Treasury can seize wages, offset a portion of federal benefits (including Social Security), and intercept federal tax refunds.
    Adam S. Minsky, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025
  • These fast-track measures can be used only if proponents agree to pay higher wages to construction workers or set aside a portion of the project for low-income housing on land considered the least environmentally sensitive.
    Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2025
Verb
  • In some cases, vehicle owners who could not afford to pay the fees to recover their vehicles lost them permanently.
    Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 14 June 2025
  • Speaking after an assessment meeting with the army’s chief of staff, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran will pay a heavy price for harming Israeli citizens.
    Jon Gambrell, Chicago Tribune, 14 June 2025
Noun
  • Social Security workers are sounding the alarm that some beneficiaries could see payment delays as the agency undergoes significant changes in the next few weeks.
    Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
  • Although no payments are due at this time, interest continues to accrue on your loan(s) during the forbearance period.
    Adam S. Minsky, Forbes.com, 6 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Hire.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hire. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.

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