tire

Pluraltires

Formstires, tiring, tired

1. 1
   rubber ringnouncountable

   A ring-shaped protective covering fitted around a wheel, usually made of rubber or a plastic composite, and either filled with air or solid.

   The mechanic patched the tire and bolted the wheel back onto the car.

   Forklifts often run on solid tires, while most cars use pneumatic ones.

   Note

   The wheel's covering has a second spelling, tyre, as in pneumatic tyres or runflat tyres. The verb for growing weary never takes the y, so tyre cannot be misread as tiredness, while tire leans on its context: a flat tire, a tired driver. Pneumatic tires hold air; solid ones, common on forklifts, do not.

2. 2
   worn outverbintransitive

   To become sleepy or in need of rest.

   The marathon runners started to tire in the final miles.

   Her eyes tire after hours of reading small print.

   Similarflag, weaken, fade

   Note

   This is the native English verb of the family, from Old English tȳrian, "to fail, cease, become weary," possibly from a root meaning "to fail, lag behind." That idea of falling behind still shows in sports writing. Phil McNulty in BBC Sport (2012) has Moldova that "tired after a night of ball chasing," where weariness means slowing. The wheel and the falconer's verb share only the spelling.

3. 3
   worn outverbtransitive

   To make someone or something feel sleepy or weary.

   The steep climb tired the whole group within an hour.

   Repetitive tasks tire workers faster than varied ones do.

   Similarexhaust, fatigue, weary, drain

   Oppositerefresh, energize, invigorate, revive

4. 4
   boredverbintransitive

   To become bored or impatient, often with something.

   Readers tire of stories that drag on for too long.

   She soon tired of the endless excuses.

   Similarweary

   Note

   Here the weariness is of the mind, and the construction carries it: tire of something means to lose patience with it, as in I tire of this book. Without of, the verb usually reports bodily weariness; with it, the reader should hear boredom. The preposition is the quickest way to tell which meaning is in play.

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To cause someone to feel bored.

   Endless paperwork tires even the most patient clerk.

   Repetitive drills tire new recruits long before lunch.

   Similarbore, weary

   Oppositeinterest

6. 6
   metal rimnouncountable

   The metal rim, or metal band over a rim, of a wooden or metal wheel, usually of steel and formerly of wrought iron, as found on carriages, wagons, and locomotives.

   The wheelwright heated the iron tire before hammering it onto the wooden wheel.

   Inspectors found that the steel tires on the locomotive's driving wheels had worn thin.

   Similarrim

   Note

   A wheelwright fits this tire hot: the iron band is heated so it expands, set over the wooden wheel, and left to shrink tight as it cools. On a locomotive the steel tire is the part that meets the rail and takes the brake blocks, so its grip is a braking question, one Trains Illustrated took up in 1960.

Showing meanings only. Show all 14