tile

American  

[tahyl] / taɪl /

noun

1. 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.

2. any of various similar slabs or pieces, as of linoleum, stone, rubber, or metal.

3. tiles collectively.

4. a flat, rectangular playing piece used in certain games, as Scrabble and mah-jongg.

5. a pottery tube or pipe used for draining land.

6. 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.

7. Informal. a stiff hat or high silk hat.

---

verb (used with object)

tiled, tiling

1. to cover with or as with tiles.

tile British  

/ taɪl /

noun

1. 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, etc

2. a short pipe made of earthenware, concrete, or plastic, used with others to form a drain

3. tiles collectively

4. a rectangular block used as a playing piece in mah jong and other games

5. old-fashioned a hat

6. informal on a spree, esp of drinking or debauchery

---

verb

1. (tr) to cover with tiles

Other Word Forms

• retile verb (used with object)
• tilelike adjective
• tiler noun

Etymology

Origin of tile

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English tīgele (cognate with German Ziegel ), from Latin tēgula

Example Sentences

When I join her in the black-and-white tiled room, she’s already pouring two glasses of milk.

From Literature

Light flooded the hall, like it was right beneath the tiles, waiting to burst out.

From Literature

The company took out a $1.3 million credit line to pay for tile that contractors ordered but never picked up because they couldn’t find workers.

From The Wall Street Journal

At Herat's central mosque, which is covered in blue ceramic tiles, there are delicate floral and geometric motifs created by Behzad.

From Barron's

I sit down next to her on the cold tile floor.

From Literature

Related Words

• brick
• plate
• shingle