tirailleur 
1. A skirmisher. 2. In the French army, a 
sharp-shooter; a skirmisher; one of an or- 
ganized body of light troops for skirmish diity. 
The title tirailleurs was first applied in 1792 to French 
' light-armed troops who were thrown out from the main 
body to bring on an action, cover an attack, or generally 
to annoy or deceive the enemy. 
tirannyet, tirandyet, Obsolete forms of 
ti/ranny. 
tirantt, . An obsolete form of tyrant. 
tirasse (ti-ras'), n. [< P. tirasse, a draw-net, 
a strap, < tirer, draw: see tire' 2 .'} In organ- 
building, same us pedal coupler (which see, un- 
der pedal). 
tirauntt, tirauntriet. Old spellings of tyrant, 
tyrantry. 
tiraz, >i. A costly silk stuff of which the most 
famous manufacture seems to have been at Al- 
meria in Spain, under the Moorish domination: 
it is mentioned as woven with inscriptions, the 
names of distinguished men, etc. 
tire 1 (tir), i!.; pret. and pp. tired, ppr. tiring. 
[Early mod. E. also tyre; < ME. tiren, tirien, teo- 
rien, < AS. teorian, intr. be tired, tr. tire, fatigue ; 
of. ME. a-teorien, < AS. a-teorian, tire ; appar. a 
secondary form of teran, tear: see tear*. The 
verb has also been referred to ME. terien, teryen, 
terwen, terren, tarien,<. AS. tergan, vex (see tor 2 , 
tarry 2 ), also to tire 2 , pull, seize (see ttre 2 ).] I. 
intrans. To become weary, fatigued, or jaded ; 
have the strength or the patience reduced or 
exhausted. 
As true as truest horse that yet would never tire. 
Shak., M. N. D., Hi. 1. 98. 
I tired of the routine of eight years in one afternoon. I 
desired liberty. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, x. 
Nor mine the sweetness or the skill, 
But mine the love that will not tire. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, ex. 
II. trans. 1 . To make weary, weaken, or ex- 
haust by exertion; fatigue; weary: used with 
reference to physical effect from either physi- 
cal or mental strain. 
Tired limbs, and over-busy thoughts, 
Inviting sleep and soft forgetfulness. 
Wordsworth, Excursion, iv. 
Last year, Esther said innocently, she had no one to 
help her, and the work tired her so. 
H. B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 452. 
Music that gentlier on the spirit lies 
Than tir'd eyelids upon tir'd eyes. 
Tennyson, Lotos-Eaters, Choric Song. 
2. To exhaust the attention or the patience 
of, as with dullness or tediousness; satiate, 
sicken, or cause repugnance in, as by excessive 
supply or continuance ; glut. 
The feast, the dance ; whate'er mankind desire, 
E'en the sweet charms of sacred numbers tire. 
Pope, Iliad, xiii. 798. 
Dramatic performances tired him [William of Orange]. 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vii. 
I often grew 
Tired of so much within our little life. 
Tennyson, Lucretius. 
To tire out, to weary or fatigue to the point of exhaus- 
tion. 
And some with Patents, some with Merit, 
Tir'd out my good Lord Dorset's Spirit. 
Prior, To 1'leetwood Shepherd (1689). 
= Syn. Tire, Fatigue, Weary, Jade. These words are pri- 
marily physical, and are in the order of strength. One 
may become tired simply by standing still, or fatigued by 
a little over-exertion. Fatigue suggests something of ex- 
haustion or inability to continue exertion : as, fatigued 
with running. Weary implies protracted exertion or 
strain gradually wearing out one's strength. Jade implies 
the repetition of the same sort of exertion : as, a horse 
will become jaded sooner by driving on a dead level than 
if he occasionally has a hill to climb. All these words 
have a figurative application to the mind corresponding 
to their physical meaning. See fatigue, n. , and wearisome. 
tire 1 (tir), n. [< tire 1 , .] The feeling of being 
tired; a sensation of physical or mental fa- 
tigue. [Colloq.] 
I have had a little cold for several days, and that and 
the tire in me gives me some headache to-day. 
S. Bowles, in Merriam, I. 293. 
Brain-tire. Same as brain-fag. 
tire 2 t (tir), v. [Early mod. E. tyre ; < ME. tiren, 
tyren (= Dan. tirre, tease, worry), < OF. (and 
F.) tirer = Sp. Pg. tirar = It. tirare, < ML. ti- 
rare, draw, drag, pull, extend, produce, pro- 
tract, prolong, etc.; prob. of Teut. origin, < 
Goth, tairan = AS. teran, etc., tear: see tear 1 , 
with which tire% seems to have been in part con- 
fused in ME. Cf . tire*, prob. from the same ult. 
root.] I. trans. 1. To draw; pull; drag. 
Blauncheflur bid forth hire suere [neck], 
And Floriz ajen hire gan tire. 
King Horn (E. E. T. S.), p. 71. 
2. To pull apart or to pieces ; rend and devour; 
prey upon. 
6352 
Thow endurest wo 
As sharpe as doth he Sysiphus in helle, 
Whose stomak fowles tyren. everemo. 
Chavuxr, Troilus, I. 787. 
II. intrans. 1. To engage in pulling or tear- 
ing or rending; raven; prey: used especially 
in falconry of hawks pouncing upon their prey, 
and in analogous figurative applications. 
Upon whose.breast a fiercer gripe doth tin 
Than did on him who first stole down the fire. 
Sir P. Sidney (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 510). 
And, like an empty eagle, 
Tire on the flesh of me and of my son. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., i. 1. 268. 
Thus made she her remove, 
And left wrath tyring on her son, for his enforced love. 
Chapman, Iliad, i. 422. 
Rivet him 
To Caucasus, should he but frown ; and let 
His own gaunt eagle fly at him, to tire. 
B. Jonson, Catiline, iii. 1. 
Hence 2. To be earnestly engaged; dwell; 
dote; gloat. 
I grieve myself 
To think, when thou Shalt be disedged by her 
That now thou tirest on, how thy memory 
Will then be pang'd by me. 
Shak., Cymbeline, iii. 4. 96. 
tire 3 t (tir), . [Early mod. E. also tyre; < OF. 
(and F.) tire, a draught, pull, stretchj fling, 
length of course, etc. (in a great variety of 
senses) (= Sp. Pg. tiro, a draught, shot, cast, 
throw, = It. tiro, a draught, shot, etc.), < tirer, 
draw : see tire 2 , v. The form tier, once a mere 
var. spelling of tire (like fier for fire), is now pro- 
nounced differently, and, with tire, is by some 
referred to a different source : see tier 2 .'] 1. A 
train or series. [Rare.] 
Such one was Wrath, the last of this ungodly tire [of pas- 
sions]. Spenser, F. Q., I. iv. 85. 
2. A row; rank; course; tier; especially, a 
row of guns ; a battery. 
Hauing spent before in fight the one side of her tire of 
Ordinance, . . . she prepared to cast about, and to bestow 
on him the other side. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 609. 
In view 
Stood rank'd of seraphim another row, 
In posture to displode their second tire 
Of thunder. MUton, P. L., vi. 605. 
3. A stroke ; hit. Cotgrave. 
tire* (tir), v. t. ; pret. and pp. tired, ppr. tiring. 
[Early mod. E. also tyre; < ME. tiren, tyren ; by 
apheresis from attire, r.] 1. To adorn ; attire ; 
dress. See attire. 
Goth yond to a gret lord that gayly is tyred. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 263. 
She painted her face, and tired her head. 2 Ki. ix. 30. 
She speaks as she goes tired in cobweb-lawn, light, thin. 
B. Jonson, Every Man out of His Humour, ii. 1. 
2. To prepare orequipfor; make ready; setup. 
But built anew with strength-conferring fare, 
With limbs and soul untam'd, he tires a war. 
Pope, Illiad, xix. 168. 
tire* (tir), re. [By apheresis from attire, .] 1. 
Attire; dress. 
He tore Dame Maudlin's silken tire. Scott. 
2f. Furniture; apparatus; machinery. 
Immediate sieges, and the tire of war, 
Roll in thy eager mind. J. Philips, Blenheim. 
tire 5 (tir), n. [Early mod. E. also tyre; per- 
haps a modified form of tiar, to simulate tire^; 
otherwise simply a particular use of tire^.~] A 
head-dress. See tiara. 
On her head she wore a tyre of gold. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. x. 31. 
The best dresser of tires that ever busked the tresses of 
a Queen. Scott, Abbot, xxxi. 
tire 6 t, n. [Also, erroneously, tier; < ME. tyre, 
prob. < OF. tire, a draught, and thus ult. identi- 
cal with tire 3 .'] A bitter drink or liquor. 
Halliwell. 
W. Y. Index and hise wyf were here with here meny 
and here hors in our ladyes place, &c., on Saterday at 
evyn, and yedyn hens on Monday after none, whan summe 
had drunkyn malvyseye and tyre, &c. 
Paston Letters, I. 511. 
tire? (tir), n. [Prop, tier; < tie 1 + -eri.] A con- 
tinuous band of iron placed around a wheel to 
form the tread, to resist shocks from obstruc- 
tions in the road, and to assist in holding the 
wheel together. Tires were formerly made in sec- 
tions and bolted to the wheel, but in modern practice the 
tire is always a continuous band, expanded by heat and 
shrunk on over the wheel, at once to compress it and to 
secure a firm hold. Tires of rubber are used for bicycles, 
and are protected by thin plates of iron, and similar tires 
are used for wheels of traction-engines, etc. Also tyre, 
Tire-upsetting machine, a machine for shrinking tires 
without cutting. The tire is heated, and then seized by 
movable clamps and strongly compressed to thicken it in 
one part and thus make it shorter, and while still hot it 
is placed on the wheel and permitted to shrink in place. 
E. H. Knitjht. 
tiresmith 
tire 7 (tir), t 1 . t. : pret. and pp. tired, ppr. tiring. 
[< tiret, .] To put a tire upon ; furnish with 
tires : as, to tire a wheel or a wagon. Also tyre. 
The tread may be turned down like the tread of a steel- 
fired wheel, and will not glaze over and become smooth 
like iron. Elect. Itev. (Amer.), XVI. x. 2. 
tire 8 , . See tier 1 , 2. 
tire-tender (tir'ben"der), n. A machine for 
bending the tires of wheels to the curve required 
by the rim of the wheel. Two forms are used : in 
one, three rollers ai-e employed, between which the tire is 
passed, to cause it to bend to a circular shape; in the 
other form, the tire is drawn and bent round a cylinder of 
the size of the wheel. 
tire-bolt (tir'bolt), . A screw-bolt by which 
a tire is fastened upon a wheel-center. If the 
wheel is made with retaining rings, the bolts are passed 
through these, and thus secure at once rings, center, and 
tire. See cut under bolt. 
tiredness (tird'nes), n. The state of being 
tired; weariness; exhaustion. 
It is not through the tirednesse or age of the earth, . . . 
but through our owne negligence, that it hath not satisfied 
vs so bountifully as it hath done. 
Hakewttl, Apology, p. 143. 
tire-drill (tir'dril), n. A machine for boring 
the holes for the bolts in tires. It has an adjusta- 
ble clamp to hold the tire opposite the drill, which is ad- 
vanced by a screw and crank. 
tire-heater (tir'he'ter), n. A form of furnace 
for heating a tire to cause it to expand, in or- 
der that it may be fitted over the rim of a wheel. 
tireless 1 (tir'les), a. [< tire 1 , v., + -less."] Not 
tiring or becoming tired; not yielding to fa- 
tigue; untiring; unwearying. [A word analogous 
in formation to ceaseless, exhaustless, relentless, etc., and 
long in every -day use, though omitted from dictionaries.] 
He [the gaucho] was courageous and cruel, active and 
tireless, never more at ease than when on the wildest 
horse. Harper's Mag., LXXXII. 866. 
tireless 2 (tir'les), a. [< tirf + -Jess.'] With- 
out a tire : as, a tireless wheel. 
tirelessly (tir'les-li), adv. In a tireless man- 
ner; without becoming tired ; unweariedly. 
She [Queen Victoria] does not go to the theatre, leaving 
that branch of the public duty of a sovereign to the Prince 
of Wales, who tirelessly pursues it. 
New York Tribune, March 22, 1891. 
tirelessness (tir'les-nes), n. The property or 
character of being tireless ; indefatigability. 
tirelingt (tir'ling), a. [Early mod. E. also tyre- 
ling; < tire 1 + -ling 1 ."] Tired; fatigued; fagged. 
His tyreling Jade he flersly forth did push 
Through thicke and thin, both over banck and bush. 
Spenser, V. Q., III. i. 17. 
tirelire (ter'ler), . [< F. tirelire, a money-box, 
formerly also a Christmas box (also the war- 
bling of a lark : see tirra-lirra).'] A saving-box, 
popularly called " savings-bank," usually made 
of baked clay, and of simple form, which must 
be broken in order to get at the money. 
tireman (tir'man), . ; pi. firemen (-men). [< 
tire* + man.'] 1 . A man who attends to the at- 
tiring of another; a dresser, especially in a the- 
ater; a valet. [Obsolete or rare.] 
Enter the Tiremen to mend the lights. 
B. Jonson, Staple of News, Ind. 
2. A dealer in clothes and articles of dress. 
Halliwell. 
tire-measurer (tir'mezh"ur-er), . An instru- 
ment for measuring the circumference of a 
wheel or a tire. It consists essentially of a graduated 
wheel turning in a frame held by a handle, and in use is 
caused to run over the circumference of the wheel or tire 
to be measured. 
tirementt (tir'ment), . [Early mod. E. tyre- 
ment; < tire 4 + -ew<.] An article of apparel; 
attire. 
Owre women in playes and tryumphes haue not greater 
plentie of stones of glasse and crystall in theyr garlaudes, 
crownes, gerdels, and suche other tyrementes. 
Peter Martyr (tr. in Eden's First Books on America, ed. 
[Arber, p. 89). 
tire-press (tlr'pres), . A powerful hydraulic 
press for forcing the tires upon the rims of lo- 
comotive driving-wheels. E. H. Knight. 
tire-roller (tir'ro"ler), . A rolling-mill for 
wheel-tires. The rolls overhang their bearings, and 
can be moved to or from each other to admit the tire be- 
tween them. E. S. Knight. 
tire-setter (tir'sefer), . A machine for set- 
ting a tire upon a wagon- or carriage-wheel. 
The tire is placed loose upon the wheel, and the machine, 
by the aid of thin steel bands which are drawn tight by 
means of a screw, upsets the tire, and presses it upon the 
wheel. 
tire-shrinker (tir'shriug"ker), . A machine 
for shortening a tire when, by shrinkage of the 
wheel, it has become loose. The tire is heated, and 
placed in the machine, which compresses the heated part, 
and thus reduces the diameter of the tire. 
tiresmith (tir'smith), . One who makes tires 
and other iron work for coaches, etc. Imp, Diet, 
