tile

1 of 2

noun

often attributive
1
plural tiles or tile
a
: a flat or curved piece of fired clay, stone, or concrete used especially for roofs, floors, or walls and often for ornamental work
b
: a hollow or a semicircular and open earthenware or concrete piece used in constructing a drain
c
: a hollow building unit made of fired clay or of shale or gypsum
2
: tiling
3
: a thin piece of resilient material (such as cork, linoleum, or rubber) used especially for covering floors or walls
4
: a thin piece resembling a ceramic tile that usually bears a mark or letter and is used as a playing piece in a board game (such as mah-jongg)
5
: hat
especially : a high silk hat

tile

2 of 2

verb

tiled; tiling

transitive verb

1
: to cover with tiles
2
: to install drainage tile in
tiler noun
Phrases
on the tiles
British
: engaged in late-night carousing

Examples of tile in a Sentence

Noun We installed new tile in the kitchen. Verb We hired him to tile the bathroom floor.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Oakland Tech had won state tiles in three of the past five seasons, the two non-championship seasons being cut short due to the pandemic. Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 3 Mar. 2024 The captivating sight of tables adorned with vibrant green and pink acrylic tiles. Kinsey Gidicl, Travel + Leisure, 2 Mar. 2024 Excavations of the gravel riverbed also uncovered a stone urn, a limestone carving of a man’s face, other limestone artifacts, bricks and tile pieces, archaeologists said. Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 23 Feb. 2024 Unlike wood and tile floors, terrazzo is designed to develop a smooth shine over the years, and should never need replacing. Grace Banks, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024 Distinctive elements: Fully renovated; hardwood flooring; marble tile; guest suite apartment. Lennie Omalza, The Courier-Journal, 22 Feb. 2024 Just the creak-clank, creak-clank of her walker and the echoing claps of our house slippers on the tile floors. Frank Shyong, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2024 The home has abundant floor-to-ceiling windows and tile and teak floors throughout. David Caraccio, Sacramento Bee, 17 Feb. 2024 On the ground floor, Restaurant Rochechouart’s swirly mosaic floor of Art Deco style tiles leads guests into breakfast, and back for lunch and dinner with locals. Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024
Verb
My new home’s bathroom is fully tiled from floor to ceiling, and the toilet is right next to the shower. Meggen Harris, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024 Each card has a point value and a pictogram that tells you which tiles on the board the card affects relative to its position. Ash Parrish, The Verge, 26 Feb. 2024 At some locations Hamas spent the effort to tile the tunnels and the rooms built off to the side. Michael Tobin, Fox News, 12 Feb. 2024 The first possibility is that the shape will not tile the plane. Craig S. Kaplan, Scientific American, 14 Dec. 2023 The second possibility is that the shape tiles the plane periodically. Craig S. Kaplan, Scientific American, 14 Dec. 2023 Introduction In 1961, the logician Hao Wang conjectured that if a set of shapes tiles the plane, then the shapes must be able to tile the plane periodically. Quanta Magazine, 30 Oct. 2023 Surprisingly, every triangle can tile the plane, and even more surprisingly, so can every quadrilateral. Quanta Magazine, 30 Oct. 2023 Israel has fractured Biden’s coalition a bit more, as polling shows Democrats tiling more toward the Palestinians in recent years. W. James Antle Iii, Washington Examiner, 19 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tile.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English tigele, from Latin tegula tile; akin to Latin tegere to cover — more at thatch

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of tile was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near tile

Cite this Entry

“Tile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tile. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

tile

1 of 2 noun
1
plural tiles or tile
a
: a flat or curved piece (as of fired clay, stone, or concrete) used especially for roofs or floors
b
: a pipe of earthenware used for a drain
2
: a thin piece of material (as linoleum or rubber) for covering floors or walls

tile

2 of 2 verb
tiled; tiling
: to cover with tiles
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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