tire

/ˈtaɪə(r)/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈtaɪər/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈtī(-ə)r/ (ame, mw) · /taɪər/ (bre, ipa) · /taɪɚ/ (ame, ipa)

tire — verb

  • tirepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • tireshe / she / it
  • tiredpast simple
  • tiring-ing form

1. to reach a point where your body has little strength left and wants to rest; or

1.動詞及物 / 不及物B1
釋義

to reach a point where your body has little strength left and wants to rest; or to cause someone else to reach that point.

例句

After two hours of walking, Lien began to tire and sat on a fallen log.

intransitive: begin to tire

The long flight tired Diego, so he went straight to bed after checking in.

transitive: event + tired + person

同義詞
  • wear out

    more casual; suggests complete depletion of energy ('The kids wore out their parents')

  • exhaust

    stronger — to use up all energy, often to the point of collapse ('The marathon exhausted the runners')

  • fatigue

    more formal or clinical; suggests gradual drain ('The long illness fatigued him')

反義詞
  • energize

    to give someone energy or enthusiasm ('A good breakfast energized her for the day')

  • refresh

    to restore energy or strength ('A short nap refreshed him')

文法句型

tire (intransitive)

tire + direct object (transitive)

用法筆記

Common in both transitive and intransitive patterns. The intransitive form ('X tires') means X's energy fades. The transitive form ('Y tires X') means Y causes X to feel weary. The passive form ('be tired by/of') is also frequent, though more common with the adjective 'tired' than the verb itself.

常見錯誤

❌I tired from working all day.
✅I was tired from working all day.
💡The verb 'tire' is less common in everyday speech than the adjective 'tired'; say 'I was tired' or 'I got tired' for natural conversation.
❌The game tired me of playing.
✅The game tired me out.
💡Use 'tire out' for physical exhaustion, not 'tire of' (which means bored, not weary).

2. to lose interest or patience because something has gone on too long or feels dul

2.動詞及物 / 不及物B2
釋義

to lose interest or patience because something has gone on too long or feels dull; to cause boredom in someone.

例句

After an hour of the lecture, Saira began to tire of the professor's slow explanations.

tire of + noun

The repetitive questions tired the witness, who started giving shorter answers.

transitive use for causing boredom

同義詞
  • get bored with

    more common in everyday speech; less formal ('She got bored with the TV show')

  • lose interest in

    emphasises waning attention rather than annoyance ('He lost interest in stamp collecting')

  • weary of

    more formal or literary; suggests long-suffering patience running out ('The public wearied of the politician's promises')

反義詞
  • engage

    to hold someone's attention ('The topic engaged the students for the whole class')

  • fascinate

    to strongly interest ('The documentary fascinated the audience')

文法句型

tire of + noun/-ing form

tire + direct object (transitive)

用法筆記

When used intransitively, this sense almost always appears with 'of' ('tire of something/someone'). The transitive form ('X tires Y') means X bores Y, not that X exhausts Y physically — though the boundary can be blurry in context. Distinguish from sense 1: if the subject wants to SLEEP, it is sense 1; if the subject wants to LEAVE or STOP PAYING ATTENTION, it is sense 2.

常見錯誤

❌I tired of walking after three kilometres.
✅I began to tire of the lecture after twenty minutes.
💡'tire of' is about mental boredom or loss of patience, not physical tiredness.
❌She tired of him.' (when describing physical exhaustion)
✅She was tired from the long walk.
💡Use 'tired from' or 'tired out' for physical fatigue.

tire — noun