I. ˈstilt noun
( -s ; see sense 4b )
Etymology: Middle English stilte plow handle, crutch, stilt; akin to Middle Dutch stelte wooden leg, crutch, Old High German stelza stilt, Old Swedish stylta crutch, Old English steall place, position, stall — more at stall
1. dialect chiefly Britain : crutch
2. dialect chiefly Britain : the handle of a plow
3.
a. : one of two poles each with a rest or strap for the foot used to elevate the wearer above the ground in walking and usually of sufficient length to be steadied at the top by the hand and arm
b. : something that resembles a stilt: as
(1) : a pile or post serving to raise a building or other structure above ground or water level
(2) : a vertical architectural member that raises the spring of an arch or vault above the apparent or elsewhere established impost
(3) : a member placed above or below a column for additional height
(4) : any of the piles forming the back of the sheet piling for a bridge starling
(5) : a piece of hard-fired clay usually three-armed with points on each side used to keep articles apart in a pottery kiln
c. : a precarious foundation
rivals … can topple governments built on stilts as easily as they can hire assassins — Flora Lewis
4.
a. : a long thin leg
white stalky birds on stilts — Thomas Wood †1950
b. also stilt plover plural also stilt : any of various notably long-legged three-toed limicoline birds of the genera Himantopus and Cladorhynchus related to the avocets, chiefly inhabiting inland ponds and marshes or brackish lagoons, nesting in small colonies, and being mostly white with a black mantle variously extended on the neck and head — called also longlegs, stiltbird ; see banded stilt , black-necked stilt , black-winged stilt , white-headed stilt
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
: to raise on or as if on stilts ; specifically : to raise the spring of (an arch or vault) above the apparent or elsewhere established impost
intransitive verb
chiefly Scotland : to walk awkwardly and stiffly : limp