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tire¹

(tīr)

v. tired, tir·ing, tires

v.intr.

1. To lose energy or strength; grow weary: When you're sick, you tend to tire easily.

2. To grow bored or impatient: The audience tired after the first 30 minutes of the movie.

v.tr.

1. To diminish the energy or strength; fatigue: The long walk tired me.

2. To exhaust the interest or patience of.

[Middle English tiren, from Old English tēorian, tyrian; see deu-¹ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: tire¹, weary, fatigue, exhaust
These verbs mean to cause or undergo depletion of energy, strength, or interest. Tire often suggests a state resulting from exertion, excess, dullness, or ennui: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life" (Samuel Johnson).
Weary often implies dissatisfaction, as that resulting from what is irksome or boring: found the long journey wearying; soon wearied of their constant bickering. Fatigue implies great weariness, as that caused by stress or overwork: "fatigued by an endless rotation of thought and wild alarms" (Mary Wollstonecraft).
To exhaust means to wear out completely, and it connotes total draining of physical or emotional strength: "Like all people who try to exhaust a subject, he exhausted his listeners" (Oscar Wilde). "Following a similar 'tempest' he had ... actually apologized to me for his misbehavior ... Scenes such as I had just been a participant in fractured my spirit, exhausted me" (William Styron).

tire²

(tīr)

1. A covering for a wheel, usually made of rubber reinforced with cords of nylon, fiberglass, or other material and filled with compressed air.

2. A hoop of metal or rubber fitted around a wheel.

[Middle English, iron rim of a wheel, probably from tir, attire, short for atire, from attiren, to attire; see ATTIRE.]

tire³

(tīr) Archaic

tr.v. tired, tir·ing, tires

To adorn or attire.

1. Attire.

2. A headband or headdress.

[Middle English tiren, short for attiren, to attire; see ATTIRE.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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