Tire Meaning
/ˈtaɪ̯ə(ɹ)/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo become sleepy or weary.
verbTo make sleepy or weary.
Sentence Examples
My bicycle has a flat tire.
I have a flat tire.
We found a nail stuck in the tire.
CEFR Practice Quiz
If you run too fast without stopping, you will ____ and have to rest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I had to change the flat ____ on my car this morning before I could drive to work in the heavy traffic today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English tiren, tirien, teorien, from Old English tȳrian, tēorian (“to fail, cease, become weary, be tired, exhausted; tire, weary, exhaust”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *teuʀōn (“to cease”), which is possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dews- (“to fail, be behind, lag”). Compare Ancient Greek δεύομαι (deúomai, “to lack”), Sanskrit दोष (dóṣa, “crime, fault, vice, deficiency”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"As Moldova understandably tired after a night of ball chasing, Everton left-back Baines scored his first international goal as his deflected free-kick totally wrong-footed Namasco."
— 2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:
"the tire of war"
— 1705, John Philips, Blenheim:
"Ne spared they to strip her naked all. / Then when they had despoild her tire and call, / Such as she was, their eyes might her behold."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
"And on her head she wore a tyre of gold,"
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 144:
"[Jezebel] painted her face, and tired her head."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Kings 9:30:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
If you run too fast without stopping, you will ____ and have to rest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I had to change the flat ____ on my car this morning before I could drive to work in the heavy traffic today.