Alternate (chiefly British) spelling for tire.

(Arabic Sur or Soűr) Town in SW Lebanon, about 80 km/50 mi S of Beirut, formerly a port until its harbor silted up; est) about 14,000. It stands on the site of the ancient city of the same name, a seaport of Phoenicia.
history
Built on the mainland and two small islands, the city was a commercial center, known for its purple dye. Besieged and captured by Alexander the Great 333–332 BC, it came under Roman rule 64 BC and was taken by Arab forces AD 638. The Crusaders captured it 1124, and it never recovered from the destruction it suffered when retaken by the Arabs 1291. In the 1970s it became a Palestinian guerrilla stronghold and was shelled by Israel 1979.