subs. (common).—A hat: spec. a tall silk-hat, or CHIMNEY-POT (q.v.): see GOLGOTHA. TILE-FRISKING = stealing hats from halls and lobbies (GROSE).
1837. DICKENS, Pickwick Papers, xii. Afore the brim went it was a wery handsome TILE.
1837. R. H. BARHAM, The Ingoldsby Legends, ‘The Auto-da-Fé.’
| A feat which his Majesty deigning to smile on, | |
| Allow’d him thenceforward to stand with his ‘TILE’ on. |
1854–5. THACKERAY, The Newcomes, xxv. My uncle the bishop had his shovels there; and they used for a considerable period to cover this humble roof with TILES.
1891. Notes and Queries, 7 S. xii. 48. Short for ‘chimney-pot hat,’ less reverently known as a ‘TILE.’
1897. MARSHALL, Pomes, 70. He was moist about the blinkers, and was bald upon the roof, Which was covered by a curate’s giddy TILE.
A TILE LOOSE, phr. (common).—Silly; crazy.
ON THE TILES, phr. (common).—On the loose; caterwauling.
