walking stick

American  

noun

• walking sticks
  plural

1. a stick held in the hand and used to help support oneself while walking.

2. Also called stick insect. Also walkingstick any of several insects of the family Phasmidae, having a long, slender, twiglike body.

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walking stick British  

noun

1. a stick or cane carried in the hand to assist walking

2. the usual US name for stick insect

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• walking sticks
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of walking stick

First recorded in 1570–80

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

walking stick

I let my mom lead and noted that the walking stick she’d been carrying for the last three years had been replaced by hiking poles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

"I was using my walking stick pretty much all the time at that point and I could barely get up the stairs", she says.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

"When I opened it in the seventies, I was still a young man... now nothing is left," he said, leaning heavily on a walking stick and surveying the vast destruction.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

Kerry Watson, 40, uses a walking stick and takes more than 100 tablets a week to deal with the agony caused by having a vaginal mesh implant to treat a prolapsed bladder in 2014.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026

She set down her bag and walking stick, then slid her passport through the slot under the glass.

From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat

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Related Words

• cane
• crutch

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