Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - hire

~1 v 1 BrE to pay money to borrow something for a period of hours or days; let1 (11), rent1 (3) AmE  (Let's hire a car for the weekend.)  (- see borrow) 2 a) to employ someone for a short time to do a job for you  (I'm hiring a private detective to trace my ex-husband.) b) especially AmE to employ someone  (hire and fire (=employ and dismiss people))  ( USAGE NOTE: HIRE WORD CHOICE hire, hire out, rent, rent out, let out, employ, take on, appoint, charter In British English you hire things for just a short time and the owner hires them out to you Let's hire a car for the weekend. | I'll have to hire a suit for the wedding. You rent things for a longer period Is that your own fax or do you rent it? You rent a house, room etc and the owner lets it (out) to you. In American English, however, you rent all of these things, and the owner rents them out. This is now starting to be used in British English as well. In American English you hire people for any job, but in British English you only hire people for a particular purpose for a short time. Otherwise you employ them or take them on (or, more formally, appoint them) We hired a caterer for the wedding reception. | Business is good - we'll have to take on more workers. In both American English and British English groups, companies etc may charter buses, ships, or planes for a special purpose UNICEF has chartered a plane to carry supplies to the disaster area. ) hire sth out phr v BrE 1 to allow someone to use something for a short time in exchange for money; rent1 (3) AmE  (a little company that hires out boats to tourists) 2 hire yourself out to arrange to work for someone. ~2 n 1 BrE an arrangement by which you borrow something for a short time in exchange for money  (a car hire company | for hire (=available to hire))  (boats for hire | on hire from (=being hired))  (The crane is on hire from a construction company.) 2 old use wages  (- see also ply for hire ply1 (4))