I. ˈhī(ə)r, ˈhīə noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hȳr; akin to Old Frisian hēre tax, lease, rent, Old Saxon hūra, hūria, Middle Low German & Middle Dutch hūre
1.
a. : payment for the temporary use of something
the heaviest single item of government expenditure is … the hire of the money we borrowed for the war — G.B.Shaw
b. : payment for labor or personal services : wages
the laborer is worthy of his hire — Lk 10:7 (Authorized Version)
2.
a.
(1) : the act of hiring
the government office which controlled the hire of coolies — Dillon Ripley
(2) : an instance of such act
the monthly base compensation payroll … is $70,000 as the result of new hires and merit and length-of-service increases — U.S. Code
b. : the state of being hired : employment
men of every political leaning are in the hire of big corporations — Robert Shaplen
Synonyms: see wage
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- for hire
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English hiren, from Old English hȳrian; akin to Old Frisian hēra to lease, Middle Low German & Middle Dutch huren; denominatives from the root of English hire (I)
transitive verb
1.
a. : to engage the personal services of for a fixed sum : employ for wages
many clergy fought in person, and others hired substitutes — G.G.Coulton
the leader … hires staff people to think up the ideas — W.H.Whyte
— sometimes used with away or on
can hire them away from any company … if you offer them a few more dollars — W.J.Reilly
the crew was fully hired on — John Hersey
b. : to engage the temporary use of for a fixed sum
came down with a hundred people in four private cars and hired a whole floor of the … hotel — Scott Fitzgerald
hired a car for the afternoon — Elizabeth Bowen
c. archaic : borrow
she can hire the money, and I know she will pay you — A.D.McFaul
2.
a. : to grant the personal services of for a fixed sum — often used with out
have been hiring themselves out as practical consultants — Vance Packard
the colonel had hired out most of his slaves — Winston Churchill
b. : to grant the temporary use of for a fixed sum
bored-looking camels which they hire to visitors as props for exotic snapshots — Mollie Panter-Downes
— often used with out
the town council hired out chairs for visitors — B.L.K.Henderson
3. : to pay for having (something done)
my father … had to hire all his share of the farm work done — W.A.White
intransitive verb
: to accept employment
asked me if I would hire with him to tend shop and keep books — John Woolman
•
- hire one's time
III. noun
: one who is hired
met the new hires