rental

Pluralrentals

1. 1
   nouncountable

   An item or property that someone pays to use for a period of time without owning it.

   The beachfront rental was booked solid through the entire month of July.

   She returned the rental with a full tank to avoid the extra fee.

   Similarlet

   Note

   Rent plus the suffix -al, the same ending that turns arrive into arrival. The noun names the thing taken on temporary terms, whether a car, a beach house or the video movie rentals of the 1990s. Its everyday edge shows in "It's just a rental," a shrug that says the object is not yours to cherish. That is why calling something a rental can sound faintly careless.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   The payment made in exchange for the use of something that belongs to another person.

   The landlord agreed to freeze the rental for another twelve months.

   A higher rental on the warehouse cut sharply into their profits.

   Similarrent, fee, charge

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The act or process of paying to use something for a set period rather than purchasing it outright.

   The rental of professional sound equipment saved the band a huge upfront cost.

   Short-term rental of e-bikes has surged across the city center.

   Similarhire, leasing

4. 4
   adjective

   Relating to the activity of letting people pay to use property or goods for a period of time.

   She built a career in the rental industry before opening her own agency.

   Several rental platforms now compete for the same vacation travelers.

   Note

   An adjective that does not grade. There is a private rental sector, as The Observer put it in 2018, but nothing is "very rental." It is close kin to the adjective of rent itself. The difference is whether the noun concerns the money changing hands or the business of renting. In a phrase like the rental sector, both readings sit comfortably together.

5. 5
   adjective

   Relating to the rent paid or received for the use of property or goods.

   Investors compared the rental yield of each building before bidding.

   His rental earnings now exceed his salary from the office job.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A business that lets its customers pay to use its goods or equipment for a period of time.

   The downtown rental stocks everything from power tools to party tents.

   A bike rental opened across from the harbor last summer.

7. 7
   nouncountable

   In sports, a player acquired by trade who has a year or less remaining on his contract.

   The general manager landed a rental to shore up the defense for one postseason run.

   Fans worried the club traded its best prospects for a rental who would leave in July.

   Note

   Team front offices borrowed the word for what such a deal really buys. A contract that runs out within a year means the acquiring club pays for a season, not a future. The talk peaks at the trade deadline, as Sean Pronger's Journeyman (2012) describes, when contenders chasing a Cup look for veterans. Like a rented car or flat, this kind of rental is used for a while and then let go.

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