Word Direct Answers

What does "tile" mean?

Tile: A plate, or thin piece, of baked clay, used for covering the roofs of buildings, for floors, for drains, and often for ornamental mantel works.

Additional senses

  1. 2.(Arch.) (a) A small slab of marble or other material used for flooring. (b) A plate of metal used for roofing.
  2. 3.(Metal.) A small, flat piece of dried earth or earthenware, used to cover vessels in which metals are fused.
  3. 4.A draintile.
  4. 5.A stiff hat. [Colloq.] Dickens. Tile drain, a drain made of tiles. -- Tile earth, a species of strong, clayey earth; stiff and stubborn land. [Prov. Eng.] -- Tile kiln, a kiln in which tiles are burnt; a tilery. -- Tile ore (Min.), an earthy variety of cuprite. -- Tile red, light red like the color of tiles or bricks. -- Tile tea, a kind of hard, flat brick tea. See Brick tea, under Brick.
  5. 6.To cover with tiles; as, to tile a house.
  6. 7.Fig.: To cover, as if with tiles. The muscle, sinew, and vein, Which tile this house, will come again. Donne.

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