Tire vs. tyre

Photo of author

Grammarist

Tire and tyre both mean a covering for a wheel, usually made of rubber. Tire is the preferred spelling in the U.S. and Canada. Tyre is preferred in most varieties of English outside North America. Of course, all English speakers use tire in the sense to grow weary.

Examples

Outside North America

Advanced systems to monitor fuel and tyre usage give the company a clear picture of how its fleet is performing. [Guardian]

Less than half a kilometre in, Keneally gets a flat tyre. [Sydney Morning Herald]

The machinery would enable the factory to produce the latest generation of car tyres, the company said. [BBC News]

North America

The mechanic mentioned that if your tires are too big, it can cause inner treadwear. [We Review Tires]

He said that he had just returned to Haiti from studying business in Canada, and that he was helping his father run a tire retread factory. [NY Times]

Andretti also worries about drivers who neglect the simple things, such as checking their tire pressures. [Globe and Mail]

As a verb

It took 20 minutes for the fish to tire and as it jumped under the glare of the moonlight, Mr Vallance realised it was a whopper. [Sydney Morning Herald]

A man can tire of the daily grind of barbarism. [Financial Times]

It means I’ve been out there long enough to tire her out which doesn’t happen easily. [Vancouver Sun]

Comments are closed.