HIRE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hire mean? 

• HIRE (noun)
  The noun HIRE has 2 senses:

1. a newly hired employee

2. the act of hiring something or someone

  Familiarity information: HIRE used as a noun is rare.

• HIRE (verb)
  The verb HIRE has 3 senses:

1. engage or hire for work

2. hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services

3. engage for service under a term of contract

  Familiarity information: HIRE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HIRE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A newly hired employee

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

the new hires need special training

Hypernyms ("hire" is a kind of...):

employee (a worker who is hired to perform a job)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of hiring something or someone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he signed up for a week's car hire

Hypernyms ("hire" is a kind of...):

act; deed; human action; human activity (something that people do or cause to happen)

• HIRE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they hire    ... he / she / it hires   
Past simple: hired   
Past participle: hired   
-ing form: hiring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Engage or hire for work

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

employ; engage; hire

Context example:

How many people has she employed?

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hire"):

featherbed (hire more workers than are necessary)

fill (appoint someone to (a position or a job))

engage (ask to represent; of legal counsel)

ship (hire for work on a ship)

contract; sign; sign on; sign up (engage by written agreement)

rat (employ scabs or strike breakers in)

farm out; job; subcontract (arranged for contracted work to be done by others)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Antonym:

fire (terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position)

Derivation:

hirer (a person responsible for hiring workers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

charter; hire; lease; rent

Hypernyms (to "hire" is one way to...):

contract; undertake (enter into a contractual arrangement)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Engage for service under a term of contract

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

charter; engage; hire; lease; rent; take

Context example:

Shall we take a guide in Rome?

Hypernyms (to "hire" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s something from somebody

 Context examples 

At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I hired a boat for myself, and I pulled after them.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then the thin man go and some one tell him where horse and cart can be hired.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I hired a boat directly, and we put off to her; and getting through the little vortex of confusion of which she was the centre, went on board.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A person or entity which hires the services of another.

(Employer, NCI Thesaurus)

You may have to hire help to get the work out on time.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I hired a horse and guide for five shillings, which I borrowed of the captain.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Poor as he was, and determined to rise as he was, he nevertheless hired one servant to take the heavy work off of Marian's hands.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A company hired by another company or research center to take over certain parts of running a clinical trial.

(Contract Research Organization, NCI Dictionary)

"Why you'd have to hire a man 'specially to take care of 'm."

(White Fang, by Jack London)