lease 1 of 2

1
as in to rent
to give the possession and use of (something) in return for periodic payment the landlord was willing to lease the apartment for less than we had expected

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in to hire
to take or get the temporary use of (something) for a set sum I couldn't afford to buy a car outright, so I decided to lease one instead

Synonyms & Similar Words

lease

2 of 2

noun

Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of lease are charter, hire, let, and rent. While all these words mean "to engage or grant for use at a price," 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 charter be a good substitute for lease?

In some situations, the words charter and lease are roughly equivalent. However, charter applies to the hiring or letting of a vehicle usually for exclusive use.

charter a bus to go to the game

How are the words hire and let related as synonyms of lease?

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 rent take the place of lease?

Although the words rent and lease 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 lease
Verb
When the firm needed a short lease extension, Hoehn provided it. Justin Wingerter, Denver Post, 4 Sep. 2025 Capital Hyundai of San Jose, California, had some 36-month, low-mileage lease deals at $99 to $199 a month on clean vehicles in late August with $4,998 in cash due at signing. Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Noun
The Milwaukee School of Engineering has owned the building since 2023 and leases it to ICE. Sophie Carson, jsonline.com, 3 Sep. 2025 Eleven years ago, Rose Schweikhart, a musician and home brewer, jumped at the opportunity to lease a bathhouse. Caroline Rogers, Southern Living, 2 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for lease
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lease
Verb
  • Purchasing tennis rackets, high-quality athletic sneakers, and renting courts also make tennis pricey as compared to other sports, Brown said.
    Cathy Cassata, Health, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Regular zoo accessibility amenities will be available to rent, including electric scooters, strollers, wheelchairs and wagons.
    Dan Kelly, Kansas City Star, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Hit Man Based on an outrageous true story, Richard Linklater's 2024 action rom-com sees Glen Powell donning the many disguises of Gary Johnson, a New Orleans Police Department contractor who poses as a hitman to arrest those trying to hire him.
    Jacqueline Weiss, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Coleman was recruited to Arizona by Fisch and transferred to Washington when the coach was hired in Seattle.
    Joe Davidosn, Sacbee.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • After more than an hour on the road, the team arrived at a cluster of trailers behind a long dirt path on a grower’s property in South Haven, tight quarters where farmworkers rest after long-hour shifts picking fruit under the Michigan sun.
    David Rodriguez Muñoz, Freep.com, 7 Sep. 2025
  • The Rochester Hotel Once a public boarding house known as the Peeples Hotel, The Rochester Hotel has been thoroughly revamped into a 15-room property with luxury touches.
    Cu Fleshman, Travel + Leisure, 7 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The area is a vast, rural, mountainous tract of forests with a political ethos that resembles Texas more than Los Angeles, San Francisco, the state capital of Sacramento, and other liberal Democratic environs.
    David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Proponents of the plan argued that these states were already majority white and contained large tracts of undeveloped land, making the territory ideal for white-only settlement.
    Paul J. Becker, The Conversation, 5 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Bright said health care and economic development are also high on his list of priorities.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 6 Sep. 2025
  • That the Chiefs could hardly bother Herbert without blitzing — and often not even then — was the most alarming development of the night for KC.
    Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 6 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Lease.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lease. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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