kilt

[kilt]

See more synonyms for kilt on Thesaurus.com

noun

any short, pleated skirt, especially a tartan wraparound, as that worn by men in the Scottish Highlands.

verb (used with object)

to draw or tuck up, as the skirt, about oneself.
to provide (a skirt) with kilt pleats.

Origin of kilt

1300–50; Middle English kylte, perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Danish kilte to tuck up

Related formskilt·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for kilt

petticoat, dress, kilt, sarong, hoop, mini, dirndl, pannier, midi, culottes, tutu, female, feminine, slip, clothes, waistcoat, underskirt, balmoral, undercoat, gather

Examples from the Web for kilt

Contemporary Examples of kilt

Excuse me, I have to get the keffiyeh out of my dusty suitcase and pack a kilt.
Up to a Point: A Free Scotland Would Be a Hilarious Disaster
P. J. O’Rourke
September 13, 2014
Peter," he said, "the city truck done run over yer dog and kilt him dead.
The Stacks: A Dog Dies, a Boy Grows Up
Pete Dexter
June 21, 2014
After another half hour, Kilt Man leaned his full weight with his palm onto the soft mound above my pelvic bone.
The Last Erotic Massage
Arianne Cohen
May 21, 2009

Historical Examples of kilt

You have the kilt at every turn, in every tartan, and often in no tartan at all.
Camps, Quarters and Casual Places
Archibald Forbes
He's up to his neck in Irish things, and speaks Gaelic and wears an Irish kilt.
Changing Winds
St. John G. Ervine
An' poor Tim was kilt the way he wouldn't tell o' the boys that did it.
Ireland as It Is
Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
Oh, Biddy, Biddy, your darlint is going to be kilt entoirely!
Australia Revenged
Boomerang
We have a way of belting on the kilt in real Argile I have seen nowhere else.
John Splendid
Neil Munro

British Dictionary definitions for kilt

kilt

noun

a knee-length pleated skirt-like garment, esp one in tartan, as worn by men in Highland dress

verb (tr)

to tuck (a skirt) up around one's body
to put pleats in (cloth, a skirt, etc)

Derived Formskilted, adjectivekiltlike, adjective

Word Origin for kilt

C18: of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish kilte to tuck up, Old Swedish kilta lap

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for kilt

"plaited tartan skirt," c.1730, from Middle English verb kilten "to tuck up" (mid-14c.), from a Scandinavian source (cf. Danish kilte op "to tuck up;" Old Norse kilting "shirt," kjalta "fold made by gathering up to the knees").

"to tuck up," mid-14c., of Scandinavian origin; cf. Danish kilte, Swedish kilta "to tuck up;" see kilt (n.). Related: Kilted; kilting.