- 1 [uncountable] (especially British English) the act of paying to use something for a short time bicycles for hire, £2 an hour a hire car a car hire firm The price includes the hire of the hall. The costumes are on hire from the local theatre. British/Americanrent / 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? Or they can rent (out)/let (out) a building, etc: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. see also leaseNouns 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. see also let, lease, hire Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivebicycle, car, equipment, … hire + nouncar, charge, cost, … prepositionfor hire, on hire, on hire from, … See full entry
- 2[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 Dictionary adjectivenew, recent, potential, … See full entry 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).Extra examples The equipment is on hire from a local company. The main expense was the hire of a car. There are boats for hire on the lake. a costume hire shop vehicles currently on hire bicycles for hire, £4 an hourIdioms
(British English) to look for customers, passengers, etc. in order to do business taxis plying for hire outside the theatre
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