stilt

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noun

ˈstilt

: one of two poles each with a rest or strap for the foot used to elevate the wearer above the ground in walking

: a pile or post serving as one of the supports of a structure above ground or water level

plural also stilt : any of several very long-legged 3-toed shorebirds (genera Himantopus and Cladorhynchus) that are related to the avocets, frequent inland ponds and marshes, and nest in small colonies

stilt

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verb

stilted; stilting; stilts

transitive verb

: to raise on or as if on stilts

Example Sentences

Noun a circus performer walking on stilts

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Anyone expecting to see a spindly stilt of a woman would be both disappointed and pleasantly surprised.

Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 26 Sep. 2022 The tallest animals in the procession — each operated by a stilt-walking actor-puppeteer fully visible to the audience, are the two 14-foot-tall giraffes.

Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Aug. 2022 Attendees can expect games (eight game tickets are included with the price of admission), stilt-walking performances, a DJ and dancing, and even workshops that will (attempt to) teach you how to juggle.

BostonGlobe.com, 28 July 2022 The most notable birding highlights last week — despite the super heat and humidity — were a Mississippi kite in Provincetown, a black-necked stilt and a sandwich tern at Nantucket, and a loggerhead shrike in Orange.

BostonGlobe.com, 23 July 2022 Several local businesses and organizations had vendor booths and many different performers, including stilt-walkers, drummers dancers, and Hartford Poet Laureate Frederick-Douglass Knowles II were in attendance.

Steve Smith, Hartford Courant, 23 June 2022 The island hosted a calling chuck-will’s-widow near Sesachacha Pond, a black-necked stilt at the Milestone Cranberry Bog, four common ravens between Sconset and Polpis, and two harlequin ducks at Siasconset.

BostonGlobe.com, 21 May 2022 Despite being landlocked, the area has a nautical tradition dating back thousands of years, to an era when Neolithic peoples lived in stilt-houses at the edges of lakes and rivers all through Central Europe.

Adam Graham, Robb Report, 3 Apr. 2022 Others raced to be the first skaters, the first stilt-walkers, and the first twins to cross the bridge.

Gary Kamiya, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Apr. 2022

Verb

Your ability to move into different situations can be stilted at times.

BostonGlobe.com, 31 Aug. 2019 And the ouster of one of the longest-serving stalwarts in the agency shows how far the White House is willing to go toward disrupting NASA and attempting to break through the bureaucracy that many think has stilted its exploration efforts for years.

Christian Davenport, Washington Post, 11 July 2019 Yet the dialogue grows increasingly stilted down the stretch, and, as the photographer and his guide, Riley McNutt and Eric Webster offer a limited array of reactions and poses.

Rob Hubbard, Twin Cities, 9 June 2019 Universities like Chicago should enroll students from a variety of backgrounds—even if the academic-bureaucratic conception of diversity now in vogue is stilted and narrow.

The Editorial Board, WSJ, 1 July 2018 The participants, including Trump, seemed unusually awkward, their interactions stilted, and their posing over in a matter of seconds.

Jackie Calmes, latimes.com, 8 June 2018 Things have always felt stilted between Brianna and Claire, their relationship heavy with a lot of unsaid words.

Julie Kosin, Harper's BAZAAR, 9 Oct. 2017 From steel drums to stilt walkers, Trinidad and Tobago provides lively entertainment for the whole family and brings the festive music of the Caribbean to the heart of Harford County.

Aegis Staff, The Aegis, 29 May 2018 The language of the documents can be stilted, even bureaucratic.

Ruth Franklin, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2018 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stilt.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.