acqui-hire

A form of acquihire — To acquire a company, in particular a small startup, to recruit its employees, rather than for its products or services.

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Meanings

verbacqui-hire (third-person singular simple present acqui-hires, present participle acqui-hiring, simple past and past participle acqui-hired)

present singular third person acqui-hires · participle present acqui-hiring · participle past acqui-hired · past acqui-hired

  1. alternativeAlternative form of acquihire.

    While the money is supposed to make up for it, I’ve heard about many acqui-hired engineers across Silicon Valley who are just biding their time until they are fully vested and then plan to strike out on their own again.

    2015, Laszlo Bock, Work Rules!, Twelve, →ISBN, page 57
nounacqui-hire (plural acqui-hires)

plural acqui-hires

  1. alternativeAlternative form of acquihire.
Cite this entry
APA

acqui-hire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acqui-hire

MLA

“acqui-hire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acqui-hire. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acqui-hire,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acqui-hire.

Source: acqui-hire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.