Tire
Pronunciation
- US IPA: /ˈtaɪ̯ɚ/, ˈtʰaɪ̯ɚ
- Rhymes: -aɪə(r)
- Homophones: tyre
Origin 1
From Middle English tiren, tirien, teorien, from Old English tȳrian, tÄ“orian ("to fail, cease, become weary, be tired, exhausted; tire, weary, exhaust"), from Proto-Germanic *tiuzÅnÄ… ("to cease"), from Proto-Indo-European *deus-, *dÄ“wÇ- ("to fail, be behind, lag"). Compare Ancient Greek δεÏομαι (deýomai, "to lack"), Sanskrit (doá¹£a, "crime, fault, vice, deficiency").
J.P. Mallory & D.Q. Adams, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, s.v. "lack: deu(s)-" (London: Fitzroy-Dearborn, 1997), 343.
Alternative forms
- tyre dialectal
Full definition of tire
Verb
(of)- (intransitive) To become sleepy or weary.
- 2012, September 7, Phil McNulty, Moldova 0-5 England, As Moldova understandably tired after a night of ball chasing, Everton left-back Baines scored his first international goal as his deflected free-kick totally wrong-footed Namasco.
- (transitive) To make sleepy or weary.
- (intransitive) To become bored or impatient (with)I tire of this book.
- (transitive) To bore
Synonyms
Related terms
Origin 2
From Middle English tire ("equipment") aphetic form of attire
Alternative forms
Noun
tire
(plural tires)- (obsolete) Accoutrements, accessories.
- Philipsthe tire of war
- (obsolete) Dress, clothes, attire.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.vii:Ne spared they to strip her naked all.
Then when they had despoild her tire and call,
Such as she was, their eyes might her behold. - 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York Review of Books 2001, p. 66:men like apes follow the fashions in tires, gestures, actions: if the king laugh, all laugh ...
- A covering for the head; a headdress.
- SpenserOn her head she wore a tire of gold.
- Metal rim of a wheel, especially that of a railroad locomotive.
- The rubber covering on a wheel; a tyre.
- A child's apron covering the upper part of the body, and tied with tape or cord; a pinafore. Also tier.
Usage notes
Tire is one of the few words where Canadian usage prefers the US spelling over the British
Commonwealth spelling.
Related terms
Verb
Related terms
Origin 3
French tirer ("to draw or pull"), akin to English tear ("to rend").
Alternative forms
Verb
- (obsolete) To seize, pull, and tear prey, as a hawk does.
- ShakespeareEven as an empty eagle, sharp by fast,
Tires with her beak on feathers, flesh, and bone. - Ben JonsonYe dregs of baseness, vultures among men,
That tire upon the hearts of generous spirits. - (obsolete) To seize, rend, or tear something as prey; to be fixed upon, or engaged with, anything.
- ChapmanThus made she her remove,
And left wrath tiring on her son. - ShakespeareUpon that were my thoughts tiring.