tire
/ˈtaɪ̯ɚ/verb, noun
tire is spelled T-I-R-E: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “tire vs tyre” about 590 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, tire means “To become sleepy or weary” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in tire?
| Letters | 4: T-I-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 6,884th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tire?
Tire appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tire?
- UK /ˈtaɪ̯ə(ɹ)/
- US /ˈtaɪ̯ɚ/
- US [ˈtʰaɪ̯ɚ]
Tire has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tyre.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with tire
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: tyre.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with tire?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tire from its last stressed vowel (/aɪəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: tier, rite, reit, iter, trie.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tire
- tires present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- tiring participle, present
- tired participle, past
- tyre
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tire mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To become sleepy or weary.
- 2
To make sleepy or weary.
- 3
To become bored or impatient (with).
I tire of this book.
- 4
To bore.
- 5
obsoleteTo dress or adorn.
- 6
obsoleteTo seize, pull, and tear prey, as a hawk does.
- 7
obsoleteTo seize, rend, or tear something as prey; to be fixed upon, or engaged with, anything.
noun
- 1
US and Canada spelling of tyre: The rubber covering on a wheel.
- 2
USUS spelling of tyre: The metal rim of a wheel, especially that of a railroad locomotive.
- 3
A child's apron covering the upper part of the body, and tied with tape or cord; a pinafore. Also tier.
- 4
obsoleteAccoutrements, accessories.
- 5
obsoleteDress, clothes, attire.
men like apes follow the fashions in tires, gestures, actions: if the king laugh, all laugh […].
- 6
A covering for the head; a headdress.
- 7
A tier, row, or rank.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tire in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | se fatiguer , fatiguer |
| German | ermüden |
| Portuguese | cansar, fatigar , adornar, enfeitar |
| Spanish | cansar, cansarse , aburrirse, hartarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tire come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).