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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

stilt.

Either of two poles with footrests that allow someone to stand or walk above the ground; used mostly by entertainers.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/stɪlt/
  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.

  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.

Where this word comes from

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.

verb/stɪlt/
  1. to raise on stilts, or as if on stilts

  2. to apply unnecessary pomp or formality

Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.