tile

Everyday

1. A tile is a flat, usually square piece of baked clay, stone or plastic used to cover floors, walls or roofs. tree →
2. A tile is a small flat piece used in a game, like in Scrabble or dominoes. tree →
3. To tile a floor or wall is to cover it with tiles. tree →

In the lessons

Maths: a thing counted to cover an area; tiles per row, rows of tiles; tiling patterns (tessellation) where shapes fit with no gaps; area = rows × tiles per row. Everyday: bathroom tiles, roof tiles, kitchen floor tiles.

Examples

• The floor needs 8 rows of 10 tiles. tree →
• Each tile is 1 foot square. tree →
• A box holds 12 tiles. tree →
• How many tiles cover a 4 by 5 meter wall? tree →
• Squares and hexagons tile a floor with no gaps. tree →
• A roof tile fell in the storm. tree →
• Each Scrabble tile has a letter and a number. tree →
• The bathroom has blue and white tiles. tree →
• AN ASS climbed up to the roof of a building, and frisking about there, broke in the tiling. tree →

Note

Countable noun; regular verb. Covering a floor is an area problem: rows × tiles per row. Trap: tiles are often sold in whole boxes, so round up. Trap: change units first if tile size and room size use different units.

In Jewish tradition

A clay brick or tablet on which Ezekiel drew Jerusalem.

Interpretation. Ezekiel's drawing of the city under siege is read as a prophet's act of showing the coming fall of Jerusalem.

Examples

• Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and trace upon it a city, even Jerusalem; (Prophets EZK.4.1, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Countable noun; regular verb. Covering a floor is an area problem: rows × tiles per row. Trap: tiles are often sold in whole boxes, so round up. Trap: change units first if tile size and room size use different units.