tile

plural tiles

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.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

2. computingA rectangular graphic.

   Each tile within the map consists of 256 × 256 pixels.

   1 more example

   Sprites and tiles that are hidden in the prototype ROM file can be recovered.

3. Any of various flat cuboid playing pieces used in certain games, such as dominoes, Scrabble, or mahjong.

   1 more example

   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.

   2005, William T. Vollmann, “They Came Out Like Ants!”, in Dave Eggers, editor, The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2005 (Literature), Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 298

4. datedinformalA stiff hat.

   1911, Charles Collins, Fred E. Terry and E.A. Sheppard, "Any Old Iron", British Music Hall song Dressed in style, brand-new tile, And your father's old green tie on.

   2 more examples

   Tile - Tile, a Hat.

   1865, Charles Dickens, chapter III, in Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions

   Thus, when old Doctor Meldrum, with his well-known curly-brimmed opera-hat, appeared upon the platform, there was such a universal query of "Where did you get that tile?" that he hurriedly removed it, and concealed it furtively under his chair.

   1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC

5. Lego buildingA Lego piece that is 1/3 the height of a brick, and is smooth without studs on top.

present singular third person tiles · participle present tiling · participle past tiled · past tiled

1. transitiveTo cover with tiles.

   The handyman tiled the kitchen.

   2 more examples

   White marble tiled the bathroom.

   Some professionals begin tiling a wall by setting a full tile in the most visually prominent corner […]

   1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 38

2. computingTo arrange in a regular pattern, with adjoining edges (applied to tile-like objects, graphics, windows in a computer interface).
3. computingTo optimize (a loop in program code) by means of the tiling technique.
4. FreemasonryTo seal a lodge against intrusions from unauthorised people.

present singular third person tiles · participle present tiling · participle past tiled · past tiled · alternative tyle

1. To protect from the intrusion of the uninitiated.

   tile the door

   1 more example

   to tile a Masonic lodge