tilt
Plural: tilts
Noun
- a combat between two mounted knights tilting against each other with blunted lances
- a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement
- a slight but noticeable partiality
- "the court's tilt toward conservative rulings"
- the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical
- "the tower had a pronounced tilt"
- pitching dangerously to one side
- A slope or inclination.
- The inclination of part of the body, such as backbone, pelvis, head, etc.
- The controlled vertical movement of a camera, or a device to achieve this.
- A jousting contest. (countable)
- An attempt at something, such as a tilt at public office.
- A thrust, as with a lance.
- A tilt hammer.
- A state of frustration and worsened performance resulting from a series of losses.
- A canvas covering for carts, boats, etc.
- Any covering overhead; especially, a tent.
Verb
Verb Forms: tilted, tilting, tilts
- To cause to slant or lean; to move into a sloping position.
- to incline or bend from a vertical position
- heel over
- "The tower is tilting"
- move sideways or in an unsteady way
- charge with a tilt
- To slope or incline (something); to slant.
- To be at an angle.
- To charge (at someone) with a lance.
- To point or thrust a weapon at.
- To point or thrust (a weapon).
- To forge (something) with a tilt hammer.
- To intentionally let the ball fall down to the drain by disabling flippers and most targets, done as a punishment to the player when the machine is nudged too violently or frequently.
- To enter a state of frustration and worsened performance resulting from a series of losses.
- To modify one's approach.
- To cover with a tilt, or awning.
Examples
- One wrong move could TILT the Words With Friends game decisively in his opponent’s favor.
- Tilt the barrel to pour out its contents.
- to go on tilt
- to tilt steel in order to render it more ductile
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English tilte, from Old English *tyltan, *tieltan (“to be unsteady”), related to the adjective tealt (“unsteady”), from Proto-West Germanic *talt, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *del-, *dul- (“to shake, hesitate”), see also Dutch touteren (“to tremble”), North Frisian talt, tolt (“unstable, shaky”). Cognate with Icelandic tölt (“an ambling pace”).
The nominal sense of "a joust" appears around 1510, presumably derived from the barrier which separated the combatants, which suggests connection with tilt "covering". The modern transitive meaning is from 1590; the intransitive use appears 1620.
The sense of gaming frustration is said to originate with pinball.
Synonyms
angle, arguing, argument, cant, cant over, careen, contention, contestation, controversy, disceptation, disputation, inclination, joust, lean, leaning, list, pitch, rock, shift, slant, sway, tip, wobble, cock, incline, slope
Scrabble Score: 4
tilt: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordtilt: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
tilt: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary