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.

---

walking stick British  

noun

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

2. the usual US name for stick insect

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• walking sticks
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of walking stick

First recorded in 1570–80

---

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I let my mom lead and noted that the walking stick she’d been carrying for the last three years had been replaced by hiking poles.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

"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

For bad days, it's using a walking stick if I need to.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2025

Sharon, 46, now uses a walking stick and, given the physical demands of her job, has been unable to return to work after suffering serious orthopaedic and psychological trauma.

From BBC ● May 8, 2025

We didn’t wait but a minute afore the white man with the walking stick and straw hat came out on stage and told some jokes that didn’t no one think were funny.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• cane
• crutch

---