stilt

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English

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A girl on stilts (walking poles).
A stilt (bird)

Etymology

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From Middle English stilte, stulte, from Old English *stilte, *stylte, from Proto-Germanic *stiltijǭ, *staltijǭ, *stultijǭ (stilt), from Proto-Germanic *stelt- (to be stiff). Akin to Danish stylte, Dutch stelt, German Stelze.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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stilt (plural stilts)

  1. Either of two poles with footrests that allow someone to stand or walk above the ground; used mostly by entertainers.
  2. A tall pillar or post used to support some structure; often above water.
    Coordinate terms: pile, pier, staddle stone
  3. Any of various wading birds of the genera Himantopus and Cladorhynchus, related to the avocet, that have extremely long legs and long thin bills.
  4. A crutch.
  5. The handle of a plough.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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stilt (third-person singular simple present stilts, present participle stilting, simple past and past participle stilted)

  1. to raise on stilts, or as if on stilts
  2. to apply unnecessary pomp or formality

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Alternative forms

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Verb

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stilt

  1. past participle of stille

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology 1

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Verb

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stilt

  1. past participle of stilla

Etymology 2

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Adjective

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stilt

  1. neuter singular of still