What it means
Out on a lively night of drinking and revelry, the kind that keeps you out till the small hours. The image is of tomcats prowling and yowling across the rooftops after dark, so a night on the tiles is one spent out carousing rather than tucked up safe in bed.
Usage examples
"He was out on the tiles all weekend and rolled into work on Monday looking like a ghost."
"They were out on the tiles for the stag do and nobody made it to the church on time the next morning."
"A night on the tiles in your twenties is a laugh, in your forties it is a three day recovery."
"We were on the tiles in Leeds till half two, then somehow ended up eating chips at the taxi rank."
"Don’t expect Dan before noon, he was out on the tiles again and gave it the full Friday-night-chaos treatment."
Where it comes from
This has been around in British English since the late 19th century. The usual reading ties it to the picture of cats roaming over roof tiles at night, noisy and full of mischief. That rooftop image got borrowed for people out late drinking, carousing, and making a proper night of it.
Other ways to say it
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