What does "hire" mean?
Hire: The price; reward, or compensation paid, or contracted to be paid, for the temporary use of a thing or a place, for personal service, or for labor; wages; rent; pay. The laborer is worthy of his hire. Luke x.
Additional senses
- 2.2. (Law.) A bailment by which the use of a thing, or the services and labor of a person, are contracted for at a certain price or reward. Story.
- 3.To procure (any chattel or estate) from another person, for temporary use, for a compensation or equivalent; to purchase the use or enjoyment of for a limited time; as, to hire a farm for a year; to hire money.
- 4.To engage or purchase the service, labor, or interest of (any one) for a specific purpose, by payment of wages; as, to hire a servant, an agent, or an advocate.
- 5.To grant the temporary use of, for compensation; to engage to give the service of, for a price; to let; to lease; -- now usually with out, and often reflexively; as, he has hired out his horse, or his time. They . . . have hired out themselves for bread. 1 Sam. ii. 5.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Steward: Jason Burns
- Published: 2026-07-17 · Modified: 2026-07-17