Hire vs. Retain — What's the Difference?
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Difference Between Hire and Retain
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Definitions
Hire
Obtain the temporary use of (something) for an agreed payment
We flew to San Diego, hired a car, and headed for Las Vegas
Retain
To keep possession of; continue to have
The family sold the house but retained the land.
Hire
Employ (someone) for wages
Management hired and fired labour in line with demand
Retain
To keep in a particular place or condition
A library that retains the author's papers.
Plants that retain a lot of water.
Hire
The action of hiring someone or something
Car hire is recommended
A hire charge
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Retain
To continue to have as a feature or aspect
Retains his good humor after all the setbacks.
Hire
A person who is hired; an employee
New hires go through six months of training
Retain
To keep in mind; remember
Retains the songs she learned in childhood.
Hire
To engage the services of (a person) for a fee; employ
Hired a new clerk.
Retain
To require (a student) to repeat a class or grade because of insufficient educational progress to advance.
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Hire
To engage the temporary use of for a fee; rent
Hire a car for the day.
Retain
To keep in one's service or pay
Retain employees on a workforce.
Hire
To grant the services of or the temporary use of for a fee
Hired himself out as a cook.
Hired out the cottage for the summer.
Retain
To hire (an attorney, for example) by the payment of a fee.
Hire
To obtain work
She hired on as a deck hand. He hired out as a photographer.
Retain
To hire a person for (that person's services)
Retained the best legal advice available.
Hire
The act of hiring.
Retain
(transitive) To keep in possession or use.
Hire
The condition or fact of being hired.
Retain
(transitive) To keep in one's pay or service.
Hire
Payment for services; wages.
Retain
(transitive) To employ by paying a retainer.
Hire
Payment for the use of something.
Retain
(transitive) To hold secure.
Hire
(Informal) One who is hired
Two new hires in the sales department.
Retain
To hold back (a pupil) instead of allowing them to advance to the next class or year.
Hire
Payment for the temporary use of something.
The sign offered pedalos on hire.
Retain
(obsolete) To restrain; to prevent.
Hire
(obsolete) Reward, payment.
Retain
To belong; to pertain.
Hire
The state of being hired, or having a job; employment.
When my grandfather retired, he had over twenty mechanics in his hire.
Retain
To continue to hold; to keep in possession; not to lose, part with, or dismiss; to restrain from departure, escape, or the like.
Be obedient, and retainUnalterably firm his love entire.
An executor may retain a debt due to him from the testator.
Hire
A person who has been hired, especially in a cohort.
We pair up each of our new hires with one of our original hires.
Retain
To keep in pay; to employ by a preliminary fee paid; to hire; to engage; as, to retain a counselor.
A Benedictine convent has now retained the most learned father of their order to write in its defense.
Hire
(transitive) To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment.
We hired a car for two weeks because ours had broken down.
Retain
To restrain; to prevent.
Hire
(transitive) To employ; to obtain the services of (a person) in exchange for remuneration; to give someone a job.
The company had problems when it tried to hire more skilled workers.
Retain
To belong; to pertain.
A somewhat languid relish, retaining to bitterness.
Hire
(transitive) To exchange the services of for remuneration.
They hired themselves out as day laborers.
They hired out their basement for Inauguration week.
Retain
To keep; to continue; to remain.
Hire
(transitive) To accomplish by paying for services.
After waiting two years for her husband to finish the tiling, she decided to hire it done.
Retain
Hold within;
This soil retains water
I retain this drug for a long time
Hire
(intransitive) To accept employment.
They hired out as day laborers.
Retain
Allow to remain in a place or position;
We cannot continue several servants any longer
She retains a lawyer
The family's fortune waned and they could not keep their household staff
Our grant has run out and we cannot keep you on
We kept the work going as long as we could
Hire
(transitive) (neologism) (in the Jobs-to-be-Done Theory) To buy something in order for it to perform a function, to do a job
They hired a milkshake.
Retain
Secure and keep for possible future use or application;
The landlord retained the security deposit
I reserve the right to disagree
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.
Retain
Keep in one's mind;
I cannot retain so much information
Hire
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.
Hire
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.
Hire
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.
Hire
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.
Hire
Engage or hire for work;
They hired two new secretaries in the department
How many people has she employed?
Hire
Hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services
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?