| pron. | 1. | See Here, |
| n. | 1. | 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. |
| 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. | |
| v. t. | 1. | |
| 1. | 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; | |
| 2. | To engage or purchase the service, labor, or interest of (any one) for a specific purpose, by payment of wages; | |
| 3. | 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; |
| Verb | 1. | hire - engage or hire for work; "They hired two new secretaries in the department"; "How many people has she employed?" Antonyms: give notice, give the axe, give the sack, sack, send away, can, force out, dismiss, fire, terminate - terminate the employment of; "The boss fired his secretary today"; "The company terminated 25% of its workers" |
| 2. | hire - hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services | |
| 3. | hire - engage for service under a term of contract; "We took an apartment on a quiet street"; "Let's rent a car"; "Shall we take a guide in Rome?" |
HIRE, contracts. A bailment, where a compensation is to be given for the use
of a thing, or for labor or services about it. 2 Kent's Com. 456; 1 Bell's
Com. 451; Story on Bailm. Sec. 369; see 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 980, et seq;
Pothier, Contrat de Louage, ch. 1, n. 1; Domat, B. 1, tit. 4 Sec. 1, n. 1
Code Civ. art.. 1709, 1710; Civ. Code of Lo., art. 2644, 2645. See this
Dict. Hirer; Letter.
2. The contract of letting and hiring is usually divided into two
kinds; first, Locatio, or Locatio conductio rei, the bailment of a thing to
be used by the hirer, for a compensation to be paid by him.
3. Secondly, Locatio operis, or the hire of the labor and services of
the hirer, for a compensation to be paid by the letter.
4. And this last kind is again subdivided into two classes: 1. Locatio
operis faciendi, or the hire of labor and work to be done, or care and
attention to be bestowed on the goods let by the hirer, for a compensation;
or,
5.-2. Locatio operis mercium vehendarum, or the hire and carriage of
goods from one place to another, for a compensation. Jones' Bailm. 85, 86,
90, 103, 118; 2 Kent's Com. 456; Code Civ. art. 1709, 1710, 1711.
6. This contract arises from the principles of natural law; it is
voluntary, and founded in consent; it involves mutual and reciprocal
obligations; and it is for mutual benefit. In some respects it bears a
strong resemblance to the contract of sale, the principal difference between
them being, that in cases of sale, the owner, parts with the whole
proprietary interest in the thing; and in cases of hire, the owner parts
with it only for a temporary use and purpose. In a sale, the thing itself is
the object of the contract; in hiring, the use of the thing is its object.
Vinnius, lib. 3, tit. 25, in pr.; Pothier, Louage, n. 2, 3, 4; Jones Bailm.
86; Story on Bailm. Sec. 371.
7. Three things are of the essence of the contract: 1. That there
should be a thing to be let. 2. A price for the hire. 3. A contract
possessing a legal obligation. Pothier, Louage, n. 6; Civ. Code of Lo. art.
2640.
8. There is a species of contract in which, though no price in money be
paid, and which, strictly speaking, is not the contract of hiring, yet
partakes of its nature. According to Pothier, it is an agreement which must
be classed with contracts do ut des. (q.v.) It frequently takes place among
poor people in the country. He gives the following example: two poor
neighbors, each owning a horse, and desirous to plough their respective
fields, to do which two horses are required, one agrees that he will let the
other have his horse for a particular time, on condition that the latter
will let the former have his horse for the same length of time. Du Louage n.
458. This contract is not a hiring, strictly speaking, for want of a price;
nor is it a loan for use, because there is to be a recompense. It has been
supposed to be a partnership; but it is different from that contract,
because there is no community of profits. This contract is, in general,
ruled by, the same principles which govern the contract of hiring. 19 Toull.
n. 247.
9. Hire also, means the price given for the use of the thing hired; as,
the hirer is bound to pay the hire or recompense. Vide Domat. liv. 1, tit.
4; Poth. Contrat de Louage; Toull. tomes 18, 19, 20; Merl. Repert. mot
Louage; Dalloz, Dict. mot Louage; Argou, Inst. liv. 3, c. 27.