# tile

/ˈtaɪɫ/ (US) · /tˈaɪl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/tile
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. building material

noun · CEFR A2

a flat, hard piece of clay, stone, or plastic used to cover a floor, wall, or roof.

For teachers: a thin, usually rectangular or square slab of hard-wearing material used for covering surfaces.

- We chose a dark blue tile for the bathroom floor because it is easy to clean.
- The restoration project required hand-painted ceramic tiles to match the original nineteenth-century patterns in the hallway.

### 2. game piece

noun · CEFR B1

a small, flat piece used in games like Scrabble, dominoes, or mahjong.

For teachers: a small, flat, usually cuboid piece used as a marker or playing component in various board games.

- He picked up a letter tile and placed it on the board to win the game.
- In mahjong, players must carefully track which tiles have been discarded to predict their opponents' strategies.

### 3. computing

noun · CEFR B2

a square or rectangular icon on a computer screen that shows information.

For teachers: a rectangular graphical user interface element, often used to represent an application or a live data feed.

- You can pin a tile to your start menu to see the weather forecast quickly.
- The operating system's interface features live tiles that update in real-time with notifications from social media and email accounts.

### 5. to arrange windows

verb · CEFR B2

to arrange windows on a computer screen so they sit next to each other without overlapping.

For teachers: to arrange open windows or images in a grid pattern so that they are all visible simultaneously without overlap.

- If you tile your open windows, you can see both documents at the same time.
- The software allows users to tile multiple video feeds across the monitor for more efficient security surveillance.

## Examples

- We chose a blue tile for the bathroom floor.
- The contractor suggested using a ceramic tile because it resists moisture better than wood in a kitchen environment.
- The intricate mosaic was composed of thousands of hand-painted tiles, each contributing to a larger geometric pattern that spanned the entire courtyard floor.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.