rehire

1 of 2

verb

re·​hire (ˌ)rē-ˈhī(-ə)r How to pronounce rehire (audio)
rehired; rehiring
Synonyms of rehirenext

transitive verb

: to hire (someone) back into the same company or job
Her MO: She would simply quit, only to be rehired with her demands met.—Lorraine Ali
Nineteen employees in the front office were let go; some of those people have been rehired on a contract basis to do the same jobs.—Tim Kurkjian

rehire

2 of 2

noun

re·​hire ˈrē-ˌhī(-ə)r How to pronounce rehire (audio)
plural rehires
1
: a person who has been rehired
Whether the employee is a new hire or a rehire is not relevant for processing the payroll.—Vicki M. Lambert
2
: the act of rehiring a former employee or group of employees
The company has no plans for a rehire.

Examples of rehire in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
Since part-timers are rehired based on performance, these evaluations gain even more significance. — Tarini Mehta, Sacbee.com, 24 June 2026 Several of the Second Best employees have been rehired and will be bringing back the beloved burritos. — Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 22 June 2026
Noun
There were no specific figures as to how many of those rehires were for the Forest Service. — Julia Gomez, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2025 But the rehires weren't enough to allay concerns in the weather and emergency management community. — Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for rehire

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1766, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1927, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of rehire was in 1766

Rhymes for rehire

See All Rhymes for rehire

Browse Nearby Words

rehinge
rehire
Rehnquist
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rehire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rehire. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on rehire

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for rehire

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All