Meanings
plural hire purchases
- CommonwealthIrelandUKcountableuncountableA 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.
Hector Puncheon was a young man with a hearty and healthy digestion. He had heard, of course, of sodium bicarb, and its virtues, but only as a wealthy man hears of hire-purchase.
1933, Dorothy Sayers, Murder Must Advertise1 more example
Maggie Thatcher, you can't match her, she's the darling of us all. She's the curse of the Irish nation, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. She's destroyed me hire purchase and she's put me on the dole. If I could only get my hands on her, I'd kick her up the hole!
1983, “The Thatcher Song”performed by Seán BradySynonyms: installment plan, long finger, never-never
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA 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.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 租購 /租购
- 租購 /租购method of purchasing an item
Dutch huurkoop
- huurkoopmethod of purchasing an item
Finnish osamaksu, osamaksukauppa
- osamaksumethod of purchasing an item
- osamaksukauppamethod of purchasing an item
Hungarian részletre vásárlás/vétel, részletvásárlás
- részletre vásárlás/vételmethod of purchasing an item
- részletvásárlásmethod of purchasing an item
- részletfizetésmethod of purchasing an item
- részletügyletmethod of purchasing an item
- részletüzletmethod of purchasing an item
Indonesian beli sewa
- beli sewamethod of purchasing an item
Māori hoko harangotengote
- hoko harangotengotemethod of purchasing an item
Norwegian Bokmål ab-kjøp
- ab-kjøpmethod of purchasing an item
Polish płatność na raty
- płatność na ratymethod of purchasing an item
Portuguese compra em prestações, compra parcelada
- compra em prestaçõesmethod of purchasing an item
- compra parceladamethod of purchasing an item
Swedish avbetalningsplan
- avbetalningsplanmethod of purchasing an item
Thai เช่าซื้อ
- เช่าซื้อ (châo-sʉ́ʉ)method of purchasing an item
Welsh ar strap
- ar strapmethod of purchasing an item
Cite this entry
hire purchase. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hire%20purchase
“hire purchase.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hire%20purchase. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hire purchase,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hire%20purchase.
Source: hire purchase on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.