hire

To hire someone means to give them a job and pay them for their work. Think of a company needing help: they hire employees to get things done. But you can also hire things, like a car or a boat, which means to rent them for a period of time. A detective might be hired to solve a mystery, or a contractor might be hired to build an addition to your house. It is all about paying for someone’s work or for the use of something.

Consider the story of Old Man Tiber, who needed help tending his orchard. He didn't have family nearby, so he put out a notice: "Help Wanted – Will hire strong backs and willing hands!" Soon enough, folks came from miles around, hoping to earn a bit of coin by picking apples.

The word hire has two main meanings, both centered on getting work or use in exchange for payment. Primarily, it means to employ someone: to offer them a job and pay them wages or a salary. For example: "The company decided to hire five new engineers," or "After months of searching, she was finally hired as the lead designer." This usually implies a professional relationship where work is exchanged for money.

However, hire also means to rent something for temporary use, like a car, a tool, or even a tuxedo. In this context, you are paying for the use of an object rather than a person's labor. While "rent" is more common in American English for objects, "hire" is the standard term in British English (for example, "car hire"). For example: "We had to hire a moving truck when we relocated," or "They hired kayaks for the afternoon and paddled down the river."

The origin of the word comes from the Old English hȳr, which referred to wages, payment, or rent. This suggests that at its heart, the act of hiring has always been an economic agreement—a fair exchange of compensation for a person's time or the use of their property.

You might also hear phrases like "hire purchase," which refers to a system of buying expensive goods by making regular payments while "renting" the item until it is fully paid off. You may also encounter the term "a hired gun," which figuratively refers to an expert brought in to solve a difficult problem, or literally to a mercenary.

So, whether you are building a team of employees or securing temporary equipment, hire signifies the act of securing what you need through payment—a fundamental part of how work and commerce function.