Stilts are long upright pieces of wood or metal on which some buildings are built, especially where the ground is wet or very soft.
They inhabit reed huts built on stilts above the water.
2. countable noun
Stilts are two long pieces of wood with pieces for the feet fixed high up on the sides so that people can stand on them and walk high above the ground.
stilt in British English
(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
verb
4. (transitive)
to raise or place on or as if on stilts
Word origin
C14 (in the sense: crutch, handle of a plough): related to Low German stilte pole, Norwegian stilta
stilt in American English
(stɪlt)
noun
1.
either of a pair of poles, each with a footrest somewhere along its length, used for walking with the feet above the ground, as by children at play, by acrobats, etc.
2.
any of a number of long posts or piles used to hold a building, etc. above the ground or out of the water
3. Word forms: pluralstilts or stilt
any of several shorebirds (family Recurvirostridae) with a long, slender bill, long legs, and three-toed feet; esp., the black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), living chiefly in marshes and ponds of temperate North America and N South America
Word origin
ME stilte, prob. < MLowG or MDu stelte, akin to Ger stelze: for base see still1
Examples of 'stilt' in a sentence
stilt
Fifteen million people live in wooden dwellings on stilts above an open sewer in unimaginable squalor.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
At first the conversation is quite stilted but after a few drinks we become more relaxed and chat openly.
The Sun (2009)
Shy, somewhat stilted conversation is made in the shallow end or the showers.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
My bedroom was a spacious, polished wooden bungalow on stilts, complete with hammock and veranda.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Sadly, in the sober light of day, conversation is stilted.
The Sun (2014)
Think no-frills wooden huts on stilts on the sand, complete with hammocks and mosquito nets and secured with a padlock.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Now there are zip wires and canoes and a wooden hut on stilts, with a bed, blankets and a stove inside.