Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense tiles, present participle tiling, past tense, past participle tiled
1. variable noun
Tiles are flat, square pieces of baked clay, carpet, cork, or other substance, which are fixed as a covering onto a floor or wall.
Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor.
The cabins had linoleum tile floors.
...a broken piece of tile.
2. variable noun
Tiles are flat pieces of baked clay which are used for covering roofs.
...a fine building, with a neat little porch and ornamental tiles on the roof.
3. verb
When someone tiles a surface such as a roof or floor, they cover it with tiles.
He wants to tile the bathroom. [VERB noun]
The terracotta tiled floor gives the place a wonderfully homely character. [VERB-ed]
-tiledcombining form in adjective
...a slate-tiled floor.
...a narrow white-tiled room.
4. See also tiling
5.
See a night/out on the tiles
tile in British English
(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
▶ Related adjective: tegular
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. British old-fashioned, slang
a hat
6. on the tiles
verb
7. (transitive)
to cover with tiles
Derived forms
tiler (ˈtiler)
noun
Word origin
Old English tīgele, from Latin tēgula; related to German Ziegel
tile in American English
(taɪl)
noun
1.
a.
a thin, usually rectangular piece of stone, concrete, or unglazed, fired clay, used for roofing, flooring, etc.
b.
a thin, usually rectangular piece of glazed, fired clay, often decorated, used for fireplace borders, bathroom walls, etc.
c.
a similar piece of other material, as of metal, plastic, asphalt, rubber, etc., used to cover floors, walls, etc.
2.
tiles collectively; tiling
3.
a drain of semicircular tiles or earthenware pipe
4.
hollow blocks of burnt clay, used variously in construction
5.
any of the pieces used in mah-jongg or some other games
6. Informal
a high, stiff hat
verb transitiveWord forms: tiled or ˈtiling
7.
to cover with tiles
Idioms:
on the tiles
Derived forms
tiler (ˈtiler)
noun
Word origin
ME < OE tigele, akin to Ger ziegel, both < WGmc *tegala < L tegula, tile < tegere, to cover: see thatch
Examples of 'tile' in a sentence
tile
They also planted trees and had green roof tiles.
The Sun (2016)
There in front of me were my bathroom tiles in the background.
The Sun (2017)
Or you can buy a roll of new turf and replace the old as you would with carpet tiles.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Its crisp white walls are offset with geometric textiles and floral floor tiles, and the pool has sea views.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
They had moved to a modern four-storey house with tiled floors and western lavatories and their village had merged with two neighbouring ones.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Or you could use it sliced as floor tiles, I suppose.
The Sun (2016)
Use them to help scrub down grubby bathroom tiles and really get to the gritty bits.
The Sun (2012)
There are spacious rooms and tiled bathrooms.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Twenty people assembled on the faded tile floor of an aging school gym.
Christianity Today (2000)
The once white the once white tiles that cover this place are now turning yellow.
The Sun (2015)
Her red tiled roof was blown off.
The Sun (2009)
We drew the patterns made by the curved braces and the shapes of the clay tiles.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Exactly ten carpet tiles can be used to cover the floor completely.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
He got an interior designer to put white porcelain tiles in his bathroom.
The Sun (2010)
He has flashbacks to a tiled white room.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Through the windows you stepped into two small rooms with rush grey walls and red tiled floors.
Judd, Alan Ford Madox Ford (1990)
Consider wooden floorboards against carpet tiles and you get my drift.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
House retains period features such as decorative tiled floors and sash windows.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The instant appeal of the house comes from the mellow red brick perfectly matched by the clay roof tiles.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Its spa room with mosaic tiled pool and the stylish outdoor areas include a veranda that spans most of the front.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Their half of the clock runs when it is their turn and keeps going until they place their tiles and push a button.
The Sun (2014)
Work surfaces, tiles and the kitchen sink were also damaged in the blast.
The Sun (2011)
The outside of the buildings were rendered and lime washed, the floors covered in fired tiles.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Broken beams hung down from the tiled roof while a 20ft pile of rubble and bricks covered the ground.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
There is no glaze on the surface of the tile, which means that they are cool and not slippery under bare foot.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Do not miss a full view of the tiled building at No. 26 on the right.
Fitch, Noel Riley Hemingway in Paris - Parisian walks for the literary traveller (1989)
It destroyed a garage, damaged trees, tore off roof tiles and sent wheelie bins flying.
The Sun (2009)
He is particularly proud of the bathroom, a patchwork of bright concrete tiles sourced from all over Brazil.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
An uncompromising 1970s makeover had gouged out the windows and buried all stone beneath breeze block, concrete tiles and cement render.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
I want to replace the 1980s cork tiles in my bathroom but don't know what to choose.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
In other languages
tile
British English: tile /taɪl/ NOUN
Tiles are flat square pieces of baked clay, carpet, cork, or other substance, which are fixed as a covering onto a floor, wall, or roof.
American English: tile
Arabic: قِرْمِيْدَة
Brazilian Portuguese: azulejo
Chinese: 瓷砖
Croatian: pločica
Czech: dlaždička
Danish: flise
Dutch: tegel
European Spanish: baldosa
Finnish: laatta kaakeli
French: tuile
German: Fliese
Greek: κεραμίδι
Italian: mattonella
Japanese: タイル
Korean: 타일
Norwegian: flis gulv/vegg
Polish: dachówka
European Portuguese: azulejo
Romanian: țiglă
Russian: плитка
Latin American Spanish: baldosa
Swedish: kakelplatta
Thai: กระเบื้อง
Turkish: fayans
Ukrainian: черепиця
Vietnamese: ngói lợp
All related terms of 'tile'
lino tile
a tile made of linoleum or a similar substance, used as a floor covering
carpet tile
a tile made of carpeting material that is used for flooring
field tile
an earthenware drain used in farm drainage
quarry tile
a square or diamond-shaped unglazed floor tile
ridge tile
any of the tiles used to cover the ridge of a roof