tyre
/ˈtaɪə(ɹ)/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.51 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The ring-shaped protective covering around a wheel which is usually made of rubber or plastic composite and is either pneumatic or solid.
noun
The metal rim, or metal covering on a rim, of a (wooden or metal) wheel, usually of steel or formerly wrought iron, as found on (horse-drawn or railway) carriages and wagons and on locomotives.
name
A city in Lebanon, a major port on the Levantine Sea that was a city-state in Phoenicia in antiquity and the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the Middle Ages.
name
An unincorporated community in Austin Township, Sanilac County, Michigan, United States, named after the biblical Tyre.
Example Sentences
- "pneumatic tyres"
- "runflat tyres"
- "iron tyres for the coach and iron shoes for the horse"
- "tyres and rails of steel, and every axle with roller bearings"
- "It is also curious that whereas brake-blocks made of certain compositions (other than cast iron) offer improved coefficients of friction, their use can reduce adhesion, and thereby increase the liability to skid (doubtless by tending to polish the tyres) by as much as 20 per cent."
- "The circular iron platform over there is used in the task of tyring the wheels, a warm job, too, by the way."
Etymology
Attested in the sense “rim of a wheel” since ca. 1500. Generally considered to be a use of Middle English tir(e), a clipped byform of atir (“equipment, furnishings, ornament”), whence modern attire. A less accepted theory derives it from the verb to tie. The spelling tyre was predominant in the 16th century, but largely gave way to tire in the 17th and 18th, before it was revived again outside North America in the 19th century.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /taɪə(ɹ)/