Tire, v. t.
To exhaust the strength of, as by toil or labor; to exhaust the patience of; to wear out (one's interest, attention, or the like); to weary; to fatigue; to jade. Shak. Tired with toil, all hopes of safety past. Dryden. To tire out, to weary or fatigue to exhaustion; to harass.
Syn. -- To jade; weary; exhaust; harass. See Jade.
5 other Webster entries under this spelling
Tire, n.
A tier, row, or rank. See Tier. [Obs.] In posture to displode their second tire Of thunder. Milton.
Tire, n.
1. Attire; apparel. [Archaic] "Having rich tire about you." Shak.
2. A covering for the head; a headdress. On her head she wore a tire of gold. Spenser.
3. A child's apron, covering the breast and having no sleeves; a pinafore; a tier.
4. Furniture; apparatus; equipment. [Obs.] "The tire of war." Philips.
5. Etym: [Probably the same word, and so called as being an attire or covering for the wheel.]
A hoop or band, as of metal, on the circumference of the wheel of a vehicle, to impart strength and receive the wear.
Note: The iron tire of a wagon wheel or cart wheel binds the fellies together. The tire of a locomotive or railroad-car wheel is a heavy hoop of iron or steel shrunk tightly upon an iron central part. The wheel of a bicycle has a tire of India rubber.
Tire, v. t.
To adorn; to attire; to dress. [Obs.] [Jezebel] painted her face, and tired her head. 2 Kings ix. 30.
Tire, v. i.
1. To seize, pull, and tear prey, as a hawk does. [Obs.] Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast, Tires with her beak on feathers, flesh, and bone. Shak. Ye dregs of baseness, vultures among men, That tire upon the hearts of generous spirits. B. Jonson.
2. To seize, rend, or tear something as prey; to be fixed upon, or engaged with, anything. [Obs.] Thus made she her remove, And left wrath tiring on her son. Chapman. Upon that were my thoughts tiring. Shak.
Tire, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tired; p. pr. & vb. n. Tiring.]
To become weary; to be fatigued; to have the strength fail; to have the patience exhausted; as, a feeble person soon tires.
Shades of meaning
To tire is to reduce strength in any degree by exertion; one may be tired just enough to make rest pleasant, or even unconsciously tired, becoming aware of the fact only when he ceases the exertion; or, on the other hand, he may be, according to the common phrase, "too tired to stir;" but for this extreme condition the stronger words are commonly used. One who is fatigued suffers from a conscious and painful lack of strength as the result of some overtaxing; an invalid may be fatigued with very slight exertion; when one is wearied, the painful lack of strength is the result of long-continued demand or strain; one is exhausted when the strain has been so severe and continuous as utterly to consume the strength, so that further exertion is for the time impossible. One is fagged by drudgery; he is jaded by incessant repetition of the same act until it becomes increasingly difficult or well-nigh impossible; as, a horse is jaded by a long and unbroken journey.