stilt

American  

[stilt] / stɪlt /

noun

• stilts
  plural

1. one of two poles, each with a support for the foot at some distance above the bottom end, enabling the wearer to walk with their feet above the ground.

2. one of several posts supporting a structure built above the surface of land or water.

3. Ceramics. a three-armed support for an object being fired.

4. any of several wading birds with very long pink legs and a long, slender bill, including the black-and-white Cladorhynchus leucocephalus and Himantopus himantopus.

5. British Dialect.

   1. a plow handle.

   2. a crutch.

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verb (used with object)

1. to raise on or as if on stilts.

stilt British  

/ stɪlt /

noun

1. either of a pair of two long poles with footrests on which a person stands and walks, as used by circus clowns

2. a long post or column that is used with others to support a building above ground level

3. any of several shore birds of the genera Himantopus and Cladorhynchus, similar to the avocets but having a straight bill

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verb

1. (tr) to raise or place on or as if on stilts

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stiltlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stilts
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of stilt

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English stilte; cognate with Low German stilte “pole,” German Stelze

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Explanation

Stilts are walking devices that make the person wearing them much taller than usual. When you use stilts, you stand on foot rests and walk along far above the ground. Stilts are special poles, either for walking tall or for supporting a structure that might otherwise be damaged by water. You can sometimes see people walking on stilts at a circus or parade, and you can see houses on stilts in some beachfront communities. Walking stilts are sometimes also used by workers, including the stilts worn by window washers and fruit farmers.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stilt stilts

"The view is beautiful. They're bigger than trees," 23-year-old Toukta Phonsala told AFP inside her wooden stilt house in Dak Wai village, her baby bouncing on her lap.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

There’s the stilt guy, Dakota Albritton, who was pouring concrete when his mother signed him up for a tryout despite the fact that he had not walked on stilts in 10 years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

The National Endowment for the Arts had a couple of stilt dancers from New Orleans.

From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026

This year's carnival featured musical performances, bedazzled horses, huge dragons and dancing stilt walkers.

From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026

They dodged acrobats and a stilt walker and a harp player.

From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman

There’s the stilt guy, Dakota Albritton, who was pouring concrete when his mother signed him up for a tryout despite the fact that he had not walked on stilts in 10 years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

In others, like the one in which Estevez lives, the balconies and upper floors are propped up by wooden stilts.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

My family lived in a Midcentury-Modern home with a front balcony on stilts and a large backyard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

The Mother Ginger sequence, which usually finds young dancers emerging from the giant skirt of a dancer on stilts, is completely reimagined here.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2025

His legs were stilts, his eyes leaked water, his beard ended in wisps at the third button of his vest, his skin appeared pink and chafed.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

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