lease

1 of 2

noun

1
: a contract by which one conveys real estate, equipment, or facilities for a specified term and for a specified rent
took out a five-year lease on the house
also : the act of such conveyance or the term for which it is made
2
: a piece of land or property that is leased
3
: a continuance or opportunity for continuance
a new lease on life

lease

2 of 2

verb

leased; leasing

transitive verb

1
: to grant by lease
2
: to hold under a lease
leasable adjective
Choose the Right Synonym for lease

hire, let, lease, rent, charter mean to engage or grant for use at a price.

hire and let, strictly speaking, are complementary terms, hire implying the act of engaging or taking for use and let the granting of use.

we hired a car for the summer
decided to let the cottage to a young couple

lease strictly implies a letting under the terms of a contract but is often applied to hiring on a lease.

the diplomat leased an apartment for a year

rent stresses the payment of money for the full use of property and may imply either hiring or letting.

instead of buying a house, they decided to rent
will not rent to families with children

charter applies to the hiring or letting of a vehicle usually for exclusive use.

charter a bus to go to the game

Examples of lease in a Sentence

Noun They took out a five-year lease on the house. We hold leases on both of our cars. Verb She leases a red convertible. I have leased this house for the last four years. We leased the house to a young married couple.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The company also announced the closure of approximately 400 Family Dollar and Dollar Tree locations over the coming years as leases expire in the earnings call and press release. James Powel, USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2024 The firm just signed a five-year lease on a new office in downtown Seattle, where the aim is to cultivate a hub for designers, artists, and photographers to meet, exchange ideas, and hopefully continue to work together in the future. Rachel Gallaher, Robb Report, 23 Mar. 2024 Robb also wasn’t told that the building was up for sale before signing the lease. Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024 This lease deal is a 24-month lease, at $239 per month with a mileage limit of 12,000 miles per year, and only requires the first month’s payment at the time of signing. Logan Carter / Jalopnik, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2024 Meanwhile, inventory at dealerships is high because three- and four-year leases are expiring, said Acterra’s Rivera. Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2024 Less than 10 minutes after the locks were changed, a man claiming to be on a lease for the home pushed through the home's door, and police soon arrived at the home again, ABC 7 reported. Emma Colton, Fox News, 21 Mar. 2024 Gage Zero requested a minimum lease term of one decade. Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2024 Bailey’s firm has a 99-year lease on two motus — about 10% of the atoll’s land — with the rest preserved from any construction. Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Verb
The land was given to the state to be sold or leased to benefit Arizonans. Stacey Barchenger, The Arizona Republic, 14 Mar. 2024 Instead of investing in expensive equipment and managing setups, users lease mining power from remote data centers and receive a share of the profits. Sponsored Content, The Mercury News, 11 Mar. 2024 Welcome to Silicon Desert: How Biden helped boost an Arizona boomtown Residents typically own their houses but lease the land underneath. Jeanne Whalen, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024 Wilford pointed to Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC, which solved its own electrical demands by simply leasing an offshore wind farm in 2020 and generating its power in-house, rather than sourcing it from the grid. Dylan Sloan, Fortune, 27 Feb. 2024 Hollywood stars began colonizing the area in the mid-1920s, when May Rindge reluctantly leased land that became the famed Malibu Movie Colony. Hadley Meares, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Feb. 2024 The company leases a facility connected to Speedway’s treatment plant and brings in various types of waste for pretreatment before disposal. Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 26 Feb. 2024 The Hasten Hebrew Academy of Indianapolis last week sent a letter to parents, saying that the school was in talks with the Paramount Schools of Excellence, the charter school operator, to lease part of their building next year. Caroline Beck, The Indianapolis Star, 1 Mar. 2024 Multifamily One thing that gives a property management company a major advantage in marketing rental units is having a full-time staff member whose sole responsibility is leasing. David Crown, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lease.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English les, from Anglo-French, from lesser

Verb

Anglo-French lesser, laisser, lescher to leave, hand over, lease, from Latin laxare to loosen, from laxus slack — more at slack

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of lease was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near lease

Cite this Entry

“Lease.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lease. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

lease

1 of 2 noun
1
: an agreement to hand over real estate for a period of time usually for a specified rent
also : the act of leasing real estate
2
: property that is leased

lease

2 of 2 verb
leased; leasing
1
: to grant by lease : let
2
: to hold under a lease

Legal Definition

lease

1 of 2 noun
1
a
: a contract by which an owner of property conveys exclusive possession, control, use, or enjoyment of it for a specified rent and a specified term after which the property reverts to the owner
also : the act of such conveyance or the term for which it is made see also sublease compare easement, license, security interest at interest sense 1, tenancy

Note: Article 2A of the Uniform Commercial Code, which governs leases where adopted, defines lease as “a transfer of the right to possession and use of goods for a term in return for consideration.”

building lease
: ground lease in this entry
consumer lease
: a lease made by a lessor regularly engaged in the selling or leasing of a product to a lessee who is leasing the product primarily for his or her personal or household use
finance lease
: a lease in which the lessor acquires goods from a supplier in accordance with the specifications of the lessee

Note: Under section 2A-103 of the Uniform Commercial Code, before the lessor signs the lease or the lease becomes effective, the lessee must receive a copy of or approve of the contract by which the goods were acquired or must receive a statement of terms (as warranties, disclaimers, and liquidated damages) relating to the contract or notification of where such information can be obtained.

ground lease
: a lease of land usually for a long term in consideration of the payment of rent and with the agreement that the lessee build or improve a structure on the land

called also building lease

mineral lease
: a lease granting the right to work a mine and extract the minerals or other valuable deposits from it under prescribed conditions (as of time, price, or royalties)

called also mining lease

net lease
: a lease requiring the lessee to assume all operation expenses (as for maintenance, insurance, and taxes) in addition to the payment of rent
operating lease
: a lease of property and especially equipment for a term which is shorter than the property's useful life and in which the lessor is responsible for certain expenses (as taxes)
perpetual lease \ pər-​ˈpe-​chu̇-​wəl-​ \
: a lease renewable forever at the lessee's option
proprietary lease
: a lease used to convey to a member of a cooperative the exclusive possession of a residential unit
true lease
: a lease that resembles a security agreement but retains the attributes of a lease
b
: property and especially real property that is leased
2
in the civil law of Louisiana : a contract by which a person provides labor or services for a price

lease

2 of 2 verb
leased; leasing

transitive verb

1
: to grant by lease to another
leases mopeds to tourists
2
: to hold under a lease
a company leasing a fleet of cars for its executives

intransitive verb

1
: to be under a lease or subject to a lease
the vacation house leases for $500 a week
2
: to grant property by a lease
have leased to students in the past
Etymology

Noun

Anglo-French les, from lesser to grant by lease, from Old French laisser to let go, from Latin laxare to loosen, from laxus slack

More from Merriam-Webster on lease

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