What does "tile" mean?
A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile, etc.
Tile
/taɪl/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile, etc.
- Grammar: tile is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: adobe, arrange, ashlar, asphalt.
- Useful contrasts: bare surface, card, disperse.
- Usage evidence: The tile that fell from the roof broke into pieces.
How to use "tile"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tile" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tile" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tile" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tile" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tile" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adobe" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "tile", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile, etc.
"Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind."
- 2 a flat thin rectangular slab (as of fired clay or rubber or linoleum) used to cover surfaces wordnet
- 3 A rectangular graphic.
"Each tile within the map consists of 256 × 256 pixels."
- 4 game equipment consisting of a flat thin piece marked with characters and used in board games like Mah-Jong, Scrabble, etc. wordnet
- 5 Any of various flat cuboid playing pieces used in certain games, such as dominoes, Scrabble, or mahjong.
"One hot summer day in the Chinese city of Nan-ning, I wandered through a park of lotus leaves and exotic flowers to a pagoda where ancient women sat, drowsily, happily playing mahjongg amidst the scent of flowers, and that excellent sound of clicking tiles enchanted me; I was far from home, but that long slow summer afternoon with the mah-jongg sounds brought me back to my own continent and specifically to Mexicali, whose summer tranquillity never ends."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 a thin flat slab of fired clay used for roofing wordnet
- 7 A stiff hat. dated, informal
"Tile - Tile, a Hat."
- 8 A Lego piece that is 1/3 the height of a brick, and is smooth without studs on top.
Verb
- 1 To cover with tiles. transitive
"The handyman tiled the kitchen."
- 2 To protect from the intrusion of the uninitiated.
"to tile a Masonic lodge"
- 3 cover with tiles wordnet
- 4 To arrange in a regular pattern, with adjoining edges (applied to tile-like objects, graphics, windows in a computer interface).
- 5 To optimize (a loop in program code) by means of the tiling technique.
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To seal a lodge against intrusions from unauthorised people.
Example
"The tile that fell from the roof broke into pieces."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tile"?
Common synonyms include: adobe, arrange, ashlar, asphalt, biscuit, bisque.
How do you use "tile" in a sentence?
The tile that fell from the roof broke into pieces.
How do you pronounce "tile"?
Pronounced /taɪl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English tile, tyle, tigel, tiȝel, teȝele, from Old English tieġle, tiġle, tiġele (“tile, brick”), from Proto-West Germanic *tigulā (“tile, brick”), from Proto-Germanic *tigulǭ (“tile, brick”), from Latin tēgula. Doublet of tegula. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tichel (“tile”), West Frisian teil, tegel, tichel (“tile”), Dutch tichel, tegel (“tile”), German Ziegel (“brick, roof tile”), Danish tegl (“brick”), Faroese tigul, Icelandic tigl (“tile, brick”), Norwegian tegl (“brick, roof tile”), Swedish tegel (“brick, tile”), Asturian teya (“roof tile”), Aragonese and Galician tella (“roof tile”), Catalan teula (“roof tile”), French tuile (“roof tile”), Italian tegola (“roof tile”), Mirandese teilha (“roof tile”), Portuguese telha (“roof tile”), Spanish teja (“roof tile”), Czech cihla (“brick”), Polish cegła (“brick”).
Etymology 2
See tiler (“doorkeeper at a Masonic lodge”).