rent

1 /rent/ verb

1 (I, T) to regularly pay money to live in a house or room that belongs to someone else, or to use something that belongs to someone else: rent sth from sb: We rent our apartment from an old retired couple. | Nick's been renting for five years now, and he can't afford to buy. | a rented video recorder

—see hire 1

2 (T) also rent out to let someone live in a house, room etc that you own, in return for money: If you can't sell your house, why don't you think about renting it? | rent sth out to sb: She rents out her flat to students.

3 (T) especially AmE to pay money for the use of something for a short period of time; hire 1 (1) BrE: Why don't we rent a boat for the afternoon?

4 (intransitive + at/for) if a house rents at or rents for a particular amount of money, that is how much someone pays in order to use it

5 rent-a-crowd/mob etc people who are willing to take part in a protest about something, even if they do not feel strongly about it

2 noun

1 (C, U) the money that someone pays for the use of a room, a house etc that belongs to someone else: high/low rent: Office rents are extremely high in this part of London. | pay the rent: I don't earn enough to pay the rent, let alone run a car. | raise the rent/raise rents (=make someone pay more rent)

—see cost 1

2 (C, U) especially AmE an amount of money paid for the use of a car, boat etc that belongs to someone else

3 (C) a large tear in cloth, or a hole shaped like a tear in something: There were huge rents all down the side of the sofa.

3 the past tense and past participle of rend