tile
[tahyl]
- a thin slab or bent piece of baked clay, sometimes painted or glazed, used for various purposes, as to form one of the units of a roof covering, floor, or revetment.
- any of various similar slabs or pieces, as of linoleum, stone, rubber, or metal.
- tiles collectively.
- a pottery tube or pipe used for draining land.
- Also called hollow tile. any of various hollow or cellular units of burnt clay or other materials, as gypsum or cinder concrete, for building walls, partitions, floors, and roofs, or for fireproofing steelwork or the like.
- Informal. a stiff hat or high silk hat.
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- to cover with or as with tiles.
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Origin of tile
before 900; Middle English; Old English tīgele (cognate with German Ziegel) < Latin tēgula
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tile
Contemporary Examples
Tile work in the bathrooms, furniture, and artwork on the walls all flowed together and carried his creative touch.
When Gary Wright Met George Harrison: Dream Weaver, John and Yoko, and MoreGary Wright
September 29, 2014
Revered and dutiful, he fought (and was injured) in World War II, and succeeded to the tile in 1953.
As I reach the berm of sand, tile and stucco that marked a kind of front line, bodies are being piled on carts in the street.
She glided over the tile floor like a gazelle and had a face that Amedeo Modigliani would have died for.
Mayo does advise that pregnant women avoid swordfish, king mackerel, shark, and tile fish.
Historical Examples
I was thinking that accidents happen daily, that a foot may slip, a tile may fall.
Therese RaquinEmile Zola
He sprang on the tile floor, saying to himself that he would be warm at night.
Therese RaquinEmile Zola
There are eight or ten tile factories in Puebla, and one glass manufactory.
Aztec LandMaturin M. Ballou
He was perfectly straightforward about it—as straightforward as a tile falling on your head.
FalkJoseph Conrad
And the said frame, stage, and staircases to be covered with tile.
Shakespearean PlayhousesJoseph Quincy Adams
tile
- a flat thin slab of fired clay, rubber, linoleum, etc, usually square or rectangular and sometimes ornamental, used with others to cover a roof, floor, wall, etcRelated adjective: tegular
- a short pipe made of earthenware, concrete, or plastic, used with others to form a drain
- tiles collectively
- a rectangular block used as a playing piece in mah jong and other games
- British old-fashioned, slang a hat
- on the tiles informal on a spree, esp of drinking or debauchery
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- (tr) to cover with tiles
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Word Origin
Old English tīgele, from Latin tēgula; related to German Ziegel
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for tile
n.
Old English tigele "roofing shingle," from West Germanic *tegala (cf. Old High German ziagal, German ziegel, Dutch tegel, Old Norse tigl), a borrowing from Latin tegula "tile" (cf. Italian tegola, French tuile), from tegere "roof, to cover" (see stegosaurus). Also used in Old English and early Middle English for "brick," before that word came into use. The verb meaning "to cover with tiles" is recorded from late 14c.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper