hire
/ˈhaɪɹ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.40 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment.
Australian usage; British usage; Transitive verb
verb
To employ; to obtain the services of (a person) in exchange for remuneration; to give someone a job.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "We pair up each of our new hires with one of our original hires."
- "Employment statistics, the other key indicator of Diversity & Inclusion performance, shows that almost 30% of new Southeastern hires are women."
- "When my grandfather retired, he had over twenty mechanics in his hire."
- "The sign offered pedalos on hire."
- "I vvill him reaue of armes, the victors hire, / And of that ſhield, more vvorthy of good knight; / For vvhy ſhould a dead dog be deckt in armour bright?"
- "I have five hundred crovvns, / The thrifty hire I ſav'd under your father […]"
Etymology
From Middle English hire, hyre, here, hure, from Old English hȳr (“employment for wages; pay for service; interest on money lent”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūʀiju (“payment”), from the verb *hūʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *hūzijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kewHs- or *kweHs-. Compare Hittite 𒆪𒊭𒀭 (kuššan-, “fee, pay, wages, price”). Cognate with West Frisian hier (“hire”), Dutch huur (“lease, rental”), German Low German Hüür (“lease, rental”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhaɪɹ/
- British English: /ˈhaɪ(.)ə/