screed vs tile

screed

noun
  • A smooth, flat layer of concrete, plaster, or similar material, especially if acting as a base for paving stones, tiles, wooden planks, etc. 

  • Chiefly in the plural form screeds: a large quantity. 

  • A speech or piece of writing which contains angry and extended criticism. 

  • A tool such as a long strip of wood or other material which is drawn over a wet layer of concrete, plaster, etc., to make it smooth and flat; also, a machine that achieves this effect; a screeder. 

  • A (discordant) sound or tune played on bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe. 

  • The sound of something scratching or tearing. 

  • A piece of writing (such as an article, letter, or list) or a speech, especially if long. 

  • A tool, usually a long strip of wood or other material, placed on a floor to be covered with concrete, a wall to be plastered, etc., as a guide for producing a smooth, flat surface. 

verb
  • To become rent or torn. 

  • To use a screed to produce a smooth, flat surface of concrete, plaster, or similar material; also (generally) to put down a layer of concrete, plaster, etc. 

  • To make a discordant or harsh scratching or tearing sound. 

  • To play bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe. 

adj
  • Strewn with scree. 

tile

noun
  • A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile, etc. 

  • Any of various flat cuboid playing pieces used in certain games, such as dominoes, Scrabble, or mahjong. 

  • A rectangular graphic. 

verb
  • To seal a lodge against intrusions from unauthorised people. 

  • To protect from the intrusion of the uninitiated. 

  • To arrange in a regular pattern, with adjoining edges (applied to tile-like objects, graphics, windows in a computer interface). 

  • To optimize (a loop in program code) by means of the tiling technique. 

  • To cover with tiles. 

How often have the words screed and tile occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )