hire purchase
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.23 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A method of purchasing an item, where the buyer hires it and takes possession of it and pays regular instalments. Ownership is only transferred on payment of the final amount. Abbreviated as HP.
British usage; Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Hector Puncheon was a young man with a hearty and healthy digestion. He had heard, of course, of sodium bicarb, and its virtues, but only as a wealthy man hears of hire-purchase."
- "Maggie Thatcher, you can't match her, she's the darling of us all. She's the curse of the Irish nation, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. She's destroyed me hire purchase and she's put me on the dole. If I could only get my hands on her, I'd kick her up the hole!"
Usage
- British usage
- Countable
- Uncountable