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.

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verb (used with object)

tiles, present (3rd person singular) tiled, past participle, past tiling present participle

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

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verb

1. (tr) to cover with tiles

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Conjugated Forms

Present

• has tiled
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have tiled
  perfect
• has been tiling
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• tiling
  participle
• are tiling
  progressive
• am tiling
  progressive 1st person singular
• is tiling
  progressive 3rd person singular
• tiles
  singular 3rd person
• have been tiling
  perfect progressive

Past

• had tiled
  perfect
• were tiling
  progressive plural
• was tiling
  progressive singular
• tiled
  simple
• tiled
  participle
• had been tiling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will tile
  simple
• will have tiled
  perfect
• will have been tiling
  perfect progressive
• will be tiling
  progressive

Etymology

Origin of tile

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

Explanation

A tile is a flat piece of material that's used to cover a roof, floor, or wall. If you're artistic, you can make a mosaic out of small, colorful glass tiles. Most tiles are made out of ceramic, metal, glass, or stone. Many baths and showers are lined with ceramic tiles, and it's also common to find tiles covering bathroom and kitchen floors. Historians have traced tiles back at least as far as the 13th century BCE, in Mesopotamia. To cover a surface in tiles is to tile. Flat, hard game pieces are also commonly known as tiles, like the Scrabble tiles you pick at the beginning of a game. The root of this word means "to cover."

Example Sentences

Her criteria was specific: A 1920s or 1930s Spanish-style studio with oversize windows, lots of natural light, a fireplace, hardwood floors and character-rich tile work.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

He has gutted the bathroom attached to the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House’s private quarters, altering its green Art Deco tile work to a sterile marble with gold fixtures.

From Salon • May 7, 2026

Each tile plays a short excerpt and the full title can be accessed on the Audible app.

From Barron's • May 2, 2026

Bob Mac Leod had spent 29 years living with a secondary bathroom that he described as being in decent shape, despite its dated tile and mismatched floor and wall colors.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

Like the sound a heavy metal object, say a refrigerator, might make if it were slowly being pushed across ceramic tile.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

Related Words

• brick
• plate
• shingle