▪ I. † tyre, tire, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 5–6 tire, tyre, 6 tyer(e.
[app. named from Tyre in Syria. Cf. OF. tire, tyre, silk cloth from Tyre.
‘Tire, if not of Syrian growth, was probably a Calabrian or Sicilian wine, manufactured from the species of grape called [in Italian] tirio’ (Furnivall in Note to quot. c 1460).]
A strong sweet wine imported in the 15th and 16th centuries. Also attrib.
| 1429 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 361/1 Tires and Romeneys at iiii marc’. c 1440 Promp. Parv. (E.E.T.S.) 483 Tyre wyne, or wyne tyre. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 119 The namys of swete wynes..Rompney of modon, Bastard, Tyre, Ozey. 1519 Interl. Four Elem. (Percy Soc.) 22 Ye shall have Spayneshe wyne and Gascoyn..Tyre, capryck, and malvesyne. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (1531) 53 b, There groweth the myghty swete wynes, as malueseys, tyeres & muscadels. 1556 Withals Dict. (1566) H j/2 Tyre, Vinum Tyrense, ex Tyro insula. 1587 Harrison England ii. vi. in Holinshed Chron. I. 167/2 Whereof..Bastard, Tire, Oseie..are not least of all accompted of, bicause of their strength and valure. |
▪ II. † tyre, n.2 Obs. [ad. med.L. tirus (Du Cange), tyrus, of uncertain origin. So OF. tir, tyr, thire.] The name of an alleged venomous snake of Syria and Arabia.
| 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. iii. ix. in Ashm. Theatr. Chem. Brit. (1652) 141 Thys Water ys lyke to the venemous Tyre, Wherewyth the myghty Tryacle ys wrought. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 792 Of the Tyre. There be some which have confounded this Serpent with the Viper, and taken them both to be but one kinde or at least the Tyre to be a kinde of Viper, because the Arabians call a Viper Thiron. Ibid., This Tyre is called in Latine Tyrus and Tyria, and also among the Arabians..Eosmari, and Alpfahex. |
▪ III. † tyre, n.3 Obs. rare—1.
[ad. med.L. tyria, tiria, ? fem. of Tyrius Tyrian.] Name of a kind of leprosy: see
quot.| 1547 Boorde Brev. Health cccxlix. (1557) 112 b, One of the kyndes of Leprousnes named Tiria. Tiria is the Latin worde. In Englyshe it is named the tyre or the propertie of an adder which is full of skales, so is this kynde of leprousnes full of skales and scabbes, corodyng the fleshe. |
▪ IV. ‖ tyre, tyer, n.4 E. Ind. (
taɪə(r))
Forms: 7
tayer, 7–8
tair, 7–9
tire, 8
tayar, 8–9
tyer, 9
tyre.
[ad. Tamil tayir.] Name in India for curdled milk and cream beginning to sour.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage v. xi. 428 Some held..that there were seuen Seas; one of salt-water, the second of fresh, the third of honey, the fourth of milke, the fift of Tair (which is creame beginning to sowre). 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. i. 139 Tire is sold about the Streets there: 'tis thick sower milk. 1776 N. B. Halhed Code Gentoo Laws Pref. 41 Flesh, or Milk, or Tyer (Sour Cream) or Ghee, or bitter Oil. 1822 Babington tr. Beschi's Gooroo Paramartan v. 80 A repast, in which there was no lack of ghee, or milk, or tyer. 1844 Southey Life A. Bell I. 192 He had been greatly displeased to see the bad milk and bad tire with which they were frequently supplied. |
▪ V. tyre, n.5 (
taɪə(r))
[A variant spelling of tire n.2, both being used indifferently in 15th and 16th c. In 17th c. tire became the settled spelling, and has so continued in U.S.; but in Gt. Britain tyre has been revived for the pneumatic tires of bicycles, carriages, and motor-cars, and is also sometimes used for iron or steel tires.] 1. The iron or steel rim of a wheel,
esp. the steel rim of the driving wheel of a locomotive:
= tire n.2 2 a.
| 1796 W. Felton Carriages Gloss., Tyre, the iron which rims the wheels. 1801 Ibid. II. 13 Extras to Wheels. Hooped tyre. Patent ditto. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 647 The advantage of hooping cast iron wheels with malleable iron tyres or trods. 1838 Bourne & Bartley Patent Specif. No. 7795, 6 Sept. 3 The felloe turned..to receive an ordinary outside hoop or tyre. 1862 Smiles Engineers III. 365 There are limits to the strength of iron,..and there is a point at which both rails and tyres must break. 1865 Athenæum 30 Sept. 442/1 Prior to the invention of weldless tyres. 1889 G. Findlay Eng. Railway 130 A steel tyre, spun from a solid block of Bessemer steel, without a weld. |
2. a. A rubber cushion around the wheel of a bicycle, motor-car, etc.:
= tire n.2 2 b.
| 1875 Encycl. Brit. III. 665/1 India-rubber tyres..were brought into requisition to relieve jolting. 1890 Patent Specif. No. 4206 Large rubber tyres..known commercially as (1) Pneumatic tyres, (2) Cushion tyres. 1891–1898 [see pneumatic 1 b]. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 325/1 In 1846 Mr. William Thompson had taken out a patent for a pneumatic tyre for carriages. |
b. spare tyre: see
spare a.
and adv. 1 a (a).
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
tyre-bar,
tyre-burst,
tyre-carrier,
tyre cast,
tyre-cover,
tyre-fitter,
tyre-hoop,
tyre-inflator,
tyre lever,
tyre-maker,
tyre mark,
tyre pressure,
tyre-pump,
tyre-rim,
tyre track,
tyre tread,
tyre-wheel.
tyre chain, a chain fastened to a tyre to prevent wheel-skid,
esp. in snow. (See also
tire n.2 3.)
| 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6264 Specimens of iron and steel, and Stocker's patent combined metal *tyre-bars. |
| 1935 ‘R. West’ Harsh Voice ii. 91 A *tyreburst made him turn towards the road. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 17 Nov. 5/2 The general fittings consist of two head-lights, wind-screen, clock, speedometer, two horns, and *tyre-carrier. |
| 1971 J. Wainwright Dig Grave 67 We're busy taking *tyre-casts... Taking plaster of Paris casts of tyre-marks. |
| 1958 L. Durrell Mount-olive iii. 80 His ears had caught the slither and scrape of *tyre-chains on the frosty drive outside. |
| 1903 Motor. Ann. 294 Brakes which act directly on the *tyre-cover cause it to deteriorate at an expensive rate. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 11 May 7/2 Carriage-builders, wheelwrights, carpenters, *tyre-fitters. |
| 1865 Athenæum 30 Sept. 442/1 *Tyre-hoops for railway wheels. |
| 1901 Daily Chron. 23 Sept. 8/5 Most of the *tyre inflators now made are provided with handles which telescope over the barrel. |
| 1927 Cycling Man. (ed. 7) (Advt.), *Tyre levers. The famous ‘Jiffy’ has no rival. 1959 I. Jefferies Thirteen Days vii. 92 Once he found a receptive bitch he wouldn't leave her..until he was prized off with tyre-levers. |
| 1936 ‘N. Blake’ Thou Shell of Death xiv. 258 They had stopped at a fork. Blount was out, scanning the road surface for *tyre marks. 1971 Tyre mark [see tyre cast above]. |
| 1931 Man. Morris Minor Car (Morris Motors, Ltd.) 50 Gauges for testing balloon *tyre pressures can be bought from all reputable motor dealers. 1959 Motor Manual (ed. 36) v. 130 A word or two should be said on the subject of tyre pressures. The basic fact to be remembered is that it is the air that carries the load. |
| 1906 Daily Chron. 8 Sept. 3/7 Most *tyre pumps have a gauge on them to show the correct pressure. |
| 1896 Westm. Gaz. 2 May 6/7 The Beeston Pneumatic Tyre Company..being unable to fulfil its orders for *tyre rims [etc.]. |
| 1931 D. L. Sayers Five Red Herrings iii. 38 A fresh set of *tyre-tracks in the dust showing where the car had been taken out. 1971 M. Kelly Twenty-Fifth Hour i. 23 There were tyre tracks, wide ones, in the shingle reef at each edge of the road. |
| 1925 Motor 29 Dec. 1091/3 (heading) Oil grooves and *tyre-tread grooves compared. 1978 R. Westall Devil on Road xi. 73 There were hoofprints in the dried-up mud... Wheeltracks too, but no tyre-treads. |
| 1801 W. Felton Carriages II. 38 A neat town Coach has..hooped *tyre wheels with moulded fellies. |
Hence
tyre v., trans. to furnish with a tyre or tyres (
= tire v.
4);
tyred ppl. a., furnished with a tyre or tyres: chiefly in compounds (
= tired ppl. a.
2);
ˈtyreless a., having no tyres.
| 1909 Miss G. Guinness Peru xxi. 222 Sufficient rubber to *tyre 300,000 motor-cars. |
| 1884 G. L. Hiller in Longm. Mag. III. 491 Using his *tyred but tireless steed [a bicycle]. 1886 Rubber-tyred [see rubber n.1 13 c]. 1896 Pneumatic-tyred [see pneumatic a. 5]. |
| 1906 C. Mansfield Girl & Gods xv, The discordant hoot of the motor horn, the rumble of *tyreless vehicles. |
[2.] [b.] For
def. read: Any circle or roll of soft, cushiony material;
spec. = spare tyre (b)
s.v. spare a. 1 a.
| 1968 J. Didion Slouching towards Bethlehem 37, I admit I'm balding. I admit I got a tire around my middle. What man fifty-seven doesn't? 1968 B. Hines Kestrel for Knave 23 She crumpled her sweater into a tyre and eased her head through the hole, trying to prevent her hair from touching the sides. 1983 M. Gee Sole Survivor xix. 200 Wendy had grown huge; blubber-armed, tyres on her throat. |
▪ VI. † tyre Sc. aphetic
f. en-,
intyre,
inter v.
| a 1500 Wyntoun's Cron. ix. 1096 (Cott. MS.) To Scoyne his men hym bare And honorably hym tyrit [v.rr. entyrit, enteryd] þar. |
▪ VII. tyre obs. form of
tier n.1,
tire.