Meanings
plural stilts
- Either of two poles with footrests that allow someone to stand or walk above the ground; used mostly by entertainers.
- Any of various wading birds of the genera Himantopus and Cladorhynchus, related to the avocet, that have extremely long legs and long thin bills.
- A crutch.
present singular third person stilts · participle present stilting · participle past stilted · past stilted
- to raise on stilts, or as if on stilts
- to apply unnecessary pomp or formality
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna column of wood or steel or concrete that is driven into the ground to provide support for a structure
nounlong-legged three-toed wading bird of brackish marshes of Australia
nounlong-legged three-toed black-and-white wading bird of inland ponds and marshes or brackish lagoons
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*stelt-“to be stiff”
- Proto-Germanic*stiltijǭ
- Old English*stilte
- Middle Englishstilte
- Englishstilt
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.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἱμαντόπους, κωλόβαθρον
- ἱμαντόπους (himantópous)bird
- κωλόβαθρον (kōlóbathron)walking pole
Arabic كُرْسُوع, أَبُو الْمَغَازِل
- كُرْسُوع (kursūʕ)bird
- أَبُو الْمَغَازِل (ʔabū l-maḡāzil)bird
Bengali রণপা
- রণপা (ronpa)walking pole
Bulgarian коки́ли
- коки́ли (kokíli)walking pole
Catalan xanca
- xancawalking pole
Chinese Mandarin 高蹺 /高跷
- 高蹺 /高跷 (gāoqiāo)walking pole
Czech pisila, chůdy
- pisilabird
- chůdywalking pole
Danish stylte
- styltewalking pole
Dutch stelt, steltloper
- steltpillar
- steltloperbird
- trekstanghandle of a plough
- steltwalking pole
Esperanto himantopo
- himantopobird
Estonian kark
- karkwalking pole
Finnish paalu, tolppa
- paalupillar
- tolppapillar
- pitkäjalkabird
- puujalkawalking pole
French pilotis, échassier
- pilotispillar
- échassierbird
- mancheronhandle of a plough
- échassewalking pole
German Stelze, Stelzenläufer
- Stelzepillar
- Stelzenläuferbird
- Sterzhandle of a plough
- Stelzewalking pole
Hungarian gólyaláb
- gólyalábwalking pole
Icelandic stulta
- stultawalking pole
Irish cos taca, cos croise
- cos tacapillar
- cos croisewalking pole
Italian trampolo, palo
- trampolopillar
- palopillar
- cavaliere d'Italiabird
- stegolahandle of a plough
- stivahandle of a plough
- trampolowalking pole
Japanese 竹馬
- 竹馬 (takeuma)walking pole
Korean 죽마
- 죽마 (jungma)walking pole
Latin grallae
- grallaewalking pole
Māori poukoki, poutoti
- poukokiwalking pole
- poutotiwalking pole
Norwegian Bokmål stylte, stylte
- styltepillar
- styltewalking pole
Polish szczudłak, szczudło
- szczudłakbird
- szczudłowalking pole
Portuguese estaca, narceja
- estacapillar
- narcejabird
- rabiçahandle of a plough
- estevahandle of a plough
- perna de pauwalking pole
Romanian piciorong, corn
- piciorongbird
- cornhandle of a plough
- piciorongwalking pole
- cataligewalking pole
Russian сва́я, кули́к
- сва́я (svája)pillar
- кули́к (kulík)bird
- ходу́лочник (xodúločnik)bird
- о́бжа (óbža)handle of a plough
- рукоя́тка плуга́ (rukojátka plugá)handle of a plough
- ходу́ля (xodúlja)walking pole
Spanish pilote, palafito
- pilotepillar
- palafitopillar
- cigüeñuelabird
- cigoñuelabird
- mancerahandle of a plough
- estevahandle of a plough
- zancowalking pole
Swedish styltlöpare, stylta
- styltlöparebird
- styltawalking pole
Tagalog kikik
- kikikwalking pole
Turkish saban ağacı, tahta bacak
- saban ağacıhandle of a plough
- tahta bacakwalking pole
Ukrainian хі́для, хі́длі
- хі́для (xídlja)walking pole
- хі́длі (xídli)walking pole
- ди́би (dýby)walking pole
- ходу́ля (xodúlja)walking pole
Vietnamese cà kheo
- cà kheowalking pole
Welsh haeddel
- haeddelhandle of a plough
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with stilt
Cite this entry
stilt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stilt
“stilt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stilt. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stilt,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stilt.
Source: stilt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.