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)

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

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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

It is made of more than 1,000 handblown coloured glass tiles, each inlaid with gold leaf, echoing the colours of the cathedral's stained-glass windows.

From BBC

It is decorated with thousands of blue and turquoise ceramic tiles and receives millions of visitors each year.

From BBC

Many of those early graves, marked by propped up terracotta roof tiles, are visible outside the basilica today.

From The Wall Street Journal

One of the Smiths' victims, Carol, from Surrey, said they had initially knocked on her door claiming to have spotted a missing roof tile.

From BBC

Her rudimentary classroom is so packed that many children are sitting on the tiled floor, exercise books on their laps.

From Barron's

Related Words

• brick
• plate
• shingle