What does hire mean?
Hire is a common verb and noun used in two related ways. In its employment sense, it means to employ a person, either permanently or temporarily: a business may hire staff, a restaurant may hire waiters, or a family may hire someone to help with a project. As a noun, a “hire” is a person who has been employed, while “the hire” can mean the process or arrangement of employing someone. In a second sense, hire means to rent or obtain temporary use of something, as in hiring a car, van, boat, or piece of equipment. The related noun can refer to the rental arrangement itself. Hire is especially useful in descriptions of employment because it is neutral and widely understood in both British and American English, and it can cover both permanent positions and short-term work.
To employ a person for payment, or to obtain temporary use of something by paying for it.
"The organization hired several researchers for the project."
The employment sense is standard in British and American English. The rental sense is especially common with vehicles, equipment, and temporary accommodation.
A person employed for payment, or the act or arrangement of employing someone or renting something.
"Several new hires joined the sales team this month."
“Hire” can refer to an individual worker, to the employment process, or, with phrases such as “for hire,” to temporary rental.
The plural “hires” refers to people employed or newly recruited, or to separate rental arrangements or temporary engagements.
"The company welcomed three new hires at the start of the year."
Hire can describe both bringing someone onto a payroll and renting a car, so it connects work and temporary access in a single word.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hire come from?
The English word “hire” comes from Old English hȳr, meaning payment, wages, or the act of engaging someone for payment. It is a Germanic word, and its precise ancient cognates are less certain than its later English development. The modern sense of employing someone developed from the older economic sense of paying for a person’s service, while the rental sense developed from the idea of paying for temporary use. The closely related form “hireling” has long been used for a person hired for wages, especially in a disparaging or literary sense.
Related word forms
How hire is actually used
In employment contexts, “hire” is standard in both British and American English. In British English, “hire” and “let” can both describe renting property, although “rent” is generally more natural for a landlord charging money. “Hire” has an informal, slightly blunt quality when used to dismiss someone, though “fire” is the usual term in American English.