Hireling

  • 1Hireling — Hire ling, a. Serving for hire or wages; venal; mercenary. Hireling mourners. Dryden. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2hireling — [hīr′liŋ] n. [ HIRE + LING1] a person who is for hire; esp., one who will follow anyone s orders for pay; mercenary adj. of or like a hireling; mercenary …

    English World dictionary

  • 3Hireling — Hire ling (h[imac]r l[i^]ng), n. [AS. h[=y]reling. See {Hire}, n., and { ling}.] One who is hired, or who serves for wages; esp., one whose motive and interest in serving another are wholly gainful; a mercenary. Lewd hirelings. Milton. [1913… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 4hireling — index employee, mercenary Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 5hireling — one who works for hire, O.E. hyrling; see HIRE (Cf. hire) + LING (Cf. ling). As an adjective by 1580s …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 6hireling — adj *mercenary, venal, hack Analogous words: servile, menial, *subservient: *mean, abject, sordid …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 7hireling — ► NOUN chiefly derogatory ▪ a person who is hired, especially for morally dubious or illegal work …

    English terms dictionary

  • 8hireling — noun /ˈhaɪrˌlɪŋ/ a) an employee who is hired, often to perform unpleasant tasks with little independence When my poor James was in the smallpox, did I allow any hireling to nurse him? b) someone who does a job purely for money, rather than out of …

    Wiktionary

  • 9hireling — UK [ˈhaɪə(r)lɪŋ] / US [ˈhaɪrlɪŋ] noun [countable] Word forms hireling : singular hireling plural hirelings mainly literary someone who is willing to do unpleasant or illegal jobs for people in order to earn money …

    English dictionary

  • 10hireling — [[t]ha͟ɪ͟ə(r)lɪŋ[/t]] hirelings N COUNT (disapproval) If you refer to someone as a hireling, you disapprove of them because they do not care who they work for and they are willing to do illegal or immoral things as long as they are paid …

    English dictionary