car hire
The standard British, Irish, and Commonwealth English term for what Americans call a car rental.
Seen in the wild
⛽ SHETLAND! Your cheapest unleaded petrol (E10) today is 164.8p/L at Bolts Car Hire Ltd Lerwick, ZE1 0NT — and 1 other at the same price! #UKFuel #Pumpr #Shetland
Think of all the money that would be saved on business lunches, car hire, drivers, private planes, sexual harrasment payoffs...
⛽ SHETLAND! Your cheapest diesel (B7) today is 184.8p/L at Bolts Car Hire Ltd Sumburgh, ZE3 9JP — and 1 other at the same price! #UKFuel #Pumpr #Shetland
Can't remember about public transport but Knossos and museum can be done in a day...perhaps car hire....? Then head to Malia site too
Definitions
The standard British, Irish, and Commonwealth English term for what Americans call a car rental. When you need wheels for a trip in the UK, you don't rent — you hire. The distinction is purely regional vocabulary: same transaction, same temporary use of a vehicle, just different linguistic traditions. You'll see 'car hire' on every UK travel booking site, airport sign, and travel guide.
We sorted the car hire at Heathrow and were on the motorway within an hour.
Comments
(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) car rental.
“⛽ SHETLAND! Your cheapest unleaded petrol (E10) today is 164.8p/L at Bolts Car Hire Ltd Lerwick, ZE1 0NT — and 1 other at the same price! #UKFuel #Pumpr #Shetland”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Think of all the money that would be saved on business lunches, car hire, drivers, private planes, sexual harrasment payoffs...”
— Bluesky· May 2026“⛽ SHETLAND! Your cheapest diesel (B7) today is 184.8p/L at Bolts Car Hire Ltd Sumburgh, ZE3 9JP — and 1 other at the same price! #UKFuel #Pumpr #Shetland”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Can't remember about public transport but Knossos and museum can be done in a day...perhaps car hire....? Then head to Malia site too”
— Bluesky· May 2026
Comments
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
Tags
Other words near "car hire" (C)
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Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- hire car76%
(UK, Austalia) A car that is hired, or available for hire.
- car rental73%
(US) The hiring of automobiles (motor cars) for relatively short periods.
- car rental69%
A business that hires out automobiles.
- hire purchase65%
(UK, Irish, Commonwealth) A method of purchasing an item, where the buyer hires it and takes possession of it and pays regular instalments. Ownership is only transferred on payment of the final amount. Abbreviated as HP.