tile

(tīl)

1. A thin, flat or convex slab of hard material such as baked clay or plastic, laid in rows to cover walls, floors, and roofs.

2. A short length of pipe made of clay or concrete, used in sewers and drains.

3. A hollow fired clay or concrete block used for building walls.

4. Tiles considered as a group: bought tile for the kitchen.

5. Games A marked playing piece, as in mahjong.

tr.v. tiled, til·ing, tiles

To cover or provide with tiles.

[Middle English, from Old English tigele, from Latin tēgula, from tegere, to cover; see (s)teg- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tile

(taɪl)

1. (Building) 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. (Building) a short pipe made of earthenware, concrete, or plastic, used with others to form a drain

3. (Building) tiles collectively

4. (Games, other than specified) a rectangular block used as a playing piece in mah jong and other games

5. (Clothing & Fashion) old-fashioned slang Brit a hat

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

(Building) (tr) to cover with tiles

[Old English tīgele, from Latin tēgula; related to German Ziegel]

ˈtiler n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tile

(taɪl)

n., v. tiled, til•ing. n.

1. a thin slab or bent piece of baked clay, sometimes painted or glazed, used for various purposes, as in forming a roof covering, floor, or revetment.

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

3. tiles collectively.

4. a pottery tube or pipe used as a drain.

5. 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.

6. a high silk hat.

v.t.

7. to cover with or as if with tiles.

8. to install drainage tile in.

[before 900; Middle English; Old English tīgele, c. Old High German ziagal, Old Norse tigl (all representing Germanic loan < Latin tēgula)]

tile′like`, adj.

til′er, n.

-tile

an adjective-forming suffix occurring orig. in loanwords from Latin, with the sense “obtained by, produced by” the action of the base verb (fictile; textile) or “characterized by” the action of the base verb ( missile; motile; sessile; versatile); esp. in later formations identical in sense with -ile¹ ( ductile; erectile).

[< Latin -tilis;]

tile

Past participle: tiled
Gerund: tiling

Imperative
tile
tile

Present
I tile
you tile
he/she/it tiles
we tile
you tile
they tile

Preterite
I tiled
you tiled
he/she/it tiled
we tiled
you tiled
they tiled

Present Continuous
I am tiling
you are tiling
he/she/it is tiling
we are tiling
you are tiling
they are tiling

Present Perfect
I have tiled
you have tiled
he/she/it has tiled
we have tiled
you have tiled
they have tiled

Past Continuous
I was tiling
you were tiling
he/she/it was tiling
we were tiling
you were tiling
they were tiling

Past Perfect
I had tiled
you had tiled
he/she/it had tiled
we had tiled
you had tiled
they had tiled

Future
I will tile
you will tile
he/she/it will tile
we will tile
you will tile
they will tile

Future Perfect
I will have tiled
you will have tiled
he/she/it will have tiled
we will have tiled
you will have tiled
they will have tiled

Future Continuous
I will be tiling
you will be tiling
he/she/it will be tiling
we will be tiling
you will be tiling
they will be tiling

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been tiling
you have been tiling
he/she/it has been tiling
we have been tiling
you have been tiling
they have been tiling

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been tiling
you will have been tiling
he/she/it will have been tiling
we will have been tiling
you will have been tiling
they will have been tiling

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been tiling
you had been tiling
he/she/it had been tiling
we had been tiling
you had been tiling
they had been tiling

Conditional
I would tile
you would tile
he/she/it would tile
we would tile
you would tile
they would tile

Past Conditional
I would have tiled
you would have tiled
he/she/it would have tiled
we would have tiled
you would have tiled
they would have tiled

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	tile - a flat thin rectangular slab (as of fired clay or rubber or linoleum) used to cover surfaces slab - block consisting of a thick piece of something tessera - a small square tile of stone or glass used in making mosaics tile roof - a roof made of fired clay tiles
	2.	tile - a thin flat slab of fired clay used for roofing roofing tile clay - a very fine-grained soil that is plastic when moist but hard when fired hip tile, hipped tile - a tile shaped so as to cover the hip of a hip roof pantile - a roofing tile with a S-shape; laid so that curves overlap ridge tile - a decorative tile that is bent in cross section; used to cover the ridge of a roof roofing material - building material used in constructing roofs
	3.	tile - game equipment consisting of a flat thin piece marked with characters and used in board games like Mah-Jong, Scrabble, etc. man, piece - game equipment consisting of an object used in playing certain board games; "he taught me to set up the men on the chess board"; "he sacrificed a piece to get a strategic advantage"
Verb	1.	tile - cover with tiles; "tile the wall and the floor of the bathroom" cover - provide with a covering or cause to be covered; "cover her face with a handkerchief"; "cover the child with a blanket"; "cover the grave with flowers" tessellate - tile with tesserae; "tessellate the kitchen floor"

tile

noun

Related words
adjective tegular

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

بَلاطَةقِرْمِيْدَةقِرْميدَه، آجُرَّهيُغَطّي بالقَرْميد أو الَلاط

dlaždicetaškadlaždičkakachleobkladačka

fliseklinkelægge tagstentagsten

Fliese gedeckt gefliest Kachel Ziegel

κεραμίδι

azulejo baldosa teja tejar embaldosar

laatta

tuile carreau

pločica

csempecsempével burkolcseréppadlóburkoló laptetõcserép

flís; tígulsteinn; òakskífaflísaleggjagólfflísar, plastflísar

tegola mattonella piastrella piastrellare tappetini

タイル

타일

čerpėdengtas čerpėmisdengti čerpėmisišklotas plytelėmiskloti plytelėmis

dakstiņšflīzekārniņšnoklāt ar dakstiņiem/kārniņiem/flīzēmplāksne

tegel

flis kakkel legge fliser legge panner legge takstein

dachówka

azulejo

плитка

dlaždicapokryť škridlouškridla

opekaploščica

kakelplatta

กระเบื้อง

fayanskaleflekskiremitkiremit/fayans kaplamakmarley

ngói

地板瓷砖瓦瓷砖用瓦盖

tile

[taɪl]

A. N (= roof tile) → teja f; (= floor tile) → baldosa f; (= wall tile, decorative tile) → azulejo m
a night on the tiles → una noche de juerga or parranda

B. VT [+ floor] → embaldosar; [+ wall] → revestir de azulejos, alicatar (Sp); [+ ceiling] → tejar

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

tile

[ˈtaɪl]

(on roof) → tuile f
a night on the tiles (fig) (British) → la java
to have a night on the tiles → faire la java

(on wall or floor) → carreau m

[+ floor, bathroom] → carreler

modif [roof] → en tuiles; [floor, wall] → carrelé(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

tile

n (on roof) → (Dach)ziegel m; (= ceramic tile) → Fliese f; (on wall) → Kachel f, → Fliese f; (= lino tile, cork tile, polystyrene tile etc) → Platte f, → Fliese f; (= carpet tile) → (Teppich)fliese f; to have a night on the tiles (Brit inf) → einen draufmachen (inf)

roof → (mit Ziegeln) decken; floor → mit Fliesen/Platten auslegen; wall → kacheln, mit Platten bedecken; bathroom → kacheln, Fliesen anbringen in (+dat)

(Comput) windows → nebeneinander anordnen; tile horizontally → nebeneinander; tile vertically → untereinander or übereinander

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

tile

[taɪl]

1. n (on roof) → tegola; (on floor, wall) → mattonella, piastrella
a night on the tiles (Brit) (fam) → una notte brava

2. vt (roof) → rivestire di tegole; (floor, bathroom) → piastrellare

tile

(tail) noun

1. a piece of baked clay used in covering roofs, walls, floors etc. Some of the tiles were blown off the roof during the storm.

2. a similar piece of plastic material used for covering floors etc.

verb

to cover with tiles. We had to have the roof tiled.

tiled adjective

covered with tiles.

tile

→ قِرْمِيْدَة dlaždička flise Fliese κεραμίδι baldosa laatta tuile pločica mattonella タイル 타일 tegel flis dachówka azulejo плитка kakelplatta กระเบื้อง fayans ngói 瓷砖

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

resumed Grandfather," did not now stand in tile midst of a gay circle of British officers.

View in context

Great ditches had to be dug and thousands of tile laid.

View in context

The tile factory that used to look so empty, melancholy, ill-kept, and useless, is now in full work, astir with life, and well stocked with everything required.

View in context

The gabled brick, tile, and freestone houses had almost dried off for the season their integument of lichen, the streams in the meadows were low, and in the sloping High Street, from the West Gateway to the mediaeval cross, and from the mediaeval cross to the bridge, that leisurely dusting and sweeping was in progress which usually ushers in an old-fashioned market-day.

View in context

And the doors are arched with the peculiar arch we see in Moorish pictures; the floors are laid in varicolored diamond flags; in tesselated, many-colored porcelain squares wrought in the furnaces of Fez; in red tiles and broad bricks that time cannot wear; there is no furniture in the rooms (of Jewish dwellings) save divans--what there is in Moorish ones no man may know; within their sacred walls no Christian dog can enter.

View in context

From time to time she heard the loud laughter, the noisy voice of Quasimodo in her ear; she half opened her eyes; then below her she confusedly beheld Paris checkered with its thousand roofs of slate and tiles, like a red and blue mosaic, above her head the frightful and joyous face of Quasimodo.

View in context

To the student of old Roman walls, the middle layer will furnish a curious parallel to the thin course of tiles always alternating with the stone in those wonderful relics of the antique, and which undoubtedly contribute so much to the great strength of the masonry.

View in context

James said the roof and floor had all fallen in, and that only the black walls were standing; the two poor horses that could not be got out were buried under the burnt rafters and tiles.

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In a sweeping passion she seized a glass vase from the table and flung it upon the tiles of the hearth.

View in context

"When was the last time you washed these tiles?" he asked, and he fixed on Daddy Jacques a most searching look.

View in context

As to the inside, all the walls, instead of wainscot, were lined with hardened and painted tiles, like the little square tiles we call galley-tiles in England, all made of the finest china, and the figures exceeding fine indeed, with extraordinary variety of colours, mixed with gold, many tiles making but one figure, but joined so artificially, the mortar being made of the same earth, that it was very hard to see where the tiles met.

View in context

Round the skirts of the valley (which is quite level, and paved throughout with flat tiles), extends a continuous row of sixty little houses.

View in context