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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

tyre.

The ring-shaped protective covering around a wheel which is usually made of rubber or plastic composite and is either pneumatic or solid.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/taɪə(ɹ)/UK
  1. The ring-shaped protective covering around a wheel which is usually made of rubber or plastic composite and is either pneumatic or solid.

    pneumatic tyres
    runflat tyres
  2. 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.

    iron tyres for the coach and iron shoes for the horse
    tyres and rails of steel, and every axle with roller bearings
Where this word comes from

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.

verb/taɪə(ɹ)/UK
  1. To fit tyres to (a vehicle).

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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.

noun
  1. Curdled milk.

    India · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Tamil தயிர் (tayir), itself from Sanskrit दधि (dádhi). Doublet of dahi.

noun
  1. Attire.

    obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Possibly a shortening of attire; or metathetically from a tire, with the 'a' viewed as indefinite article a.

verb
  1. To adorn.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

Possibly a shortening of attire; or metathetically from a tire, with the 'a' viewed as indefinite article a.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.