Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - rent

~1 v 1 to regularly pay money to live in a house or room that belongs to someone else, or to use something that belongs to someone else  (rent sth from sb)  (We rent our apartment from an old retired couple. | Nick's been renting for five years now, and he can't afford to buy. | a rented video recorder)  (- see hire1) 2 also rent out to let someone live in a house, room etc that you own, in return for money  (If you can't sell your house, why don't you think about renting it? | rent sth out to sb)  (She rents out her flat to students.) 3 especially AmE to pay money for the use of something for a short period of time; hire1 (1) BrE  (Why don't we rent a boat for the afternoon?) 4 I + at/for if a house rents at or rents for a particular amount of money, that is how much someone pays in order to use it 5 rent-a-crowd/mob etc people who are willing to take part in a protest about something, even if they do not feel strongly about it ~2 n 1 the money that someone pays for the use of a room, a house etc that belongs to someone else  (high/low rent)  (Office rents are extremely high in this part of London. | pay the rent)  (I don't earn enough to pay the rent, let alone run a car. | raise the rent/raise rents (=make someone pay more rent))  (- see cost1) 2 especially AmE an amount of money paid for the use of a car, boat etc that belongs to someone else 3 a large tear in cloth, or a hole shaped like a tear in something  (There were huge rents all down the side of the sofa.) ~3 the past tense and past participle of rend