STILT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does stilt mean? 

• STILT (noun)
  The noun STILT has 4 senses:

1. a column of wood or steel or concrete that is driven into the ground to provide support for a structure

2. one of two stout poles with foot rests in the middle; used for walking high above the ground

3. long-legged three-toed wading bird of brackish marshes of Australia

4. long-legged three-toed black-and-white wading bird of inland ponds and marshes or brackish lagoons

  Familiarity information: STILT used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STILT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A column of wood or steel or concrete that is driven into the ground to provide support for a structure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

pile; piling; spile; stilt

Hypernyms ("stilt" is a kind of...):

column; pillar ((architecture) a tall vertical cylindrical structure standing upright and used to support a structure)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stilt"):

sheath pile; sheet pile; sheet piling (a pile in a row of piles driven side by side to retain earth or prevent seepage)

Sense 2

Meaning:

One of two stout poles with foot rests in the middle; used for walking high above the ground

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

he was so tall I thought he was on stilts

Hypernyms ("stilt" is a kind of...):

pole (a long (usually round) rod of wood or metal or plastic)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Long-legged three-toed wading bird of brackish marshes of Australia

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

Australian stilt; stilt

Hypernyms ("stilt" is a kind of...):

limicoline bird; shore bird; shorebird (any of numerous wading birds that frequent mostly seashores and estuaries)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stilt"):

banded stilt; Cladorhyncus leucocephalum (web-footed Australian stilt with reddish-brown pectoral markings)

Holonyms ("stilt" is a member of...):

Cladorhyncus; genus Cladorhyncus (one of two genera of stilts; similar to avocets but with straight bills)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Long-legged three-toed black-and-white wading bird of inland ponds and marshes or brackish lagoons

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

Himantopus stilt; long-legs; longlegs; stilt; stilt plover; stiltbird

Hypernyms ("stilt" is a kind of...):

limicoline bird; shore bird; shorebird (any of numerous wading birds that frequent mostly seashores and estuaries)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stilt"):

black-necked stilt; Himantopus mexicanus (stilt of southwestern United States to northern South America having black plumage extending from the head down the back of the neck)

black-winged stilt; Himantopus himantopus (stilt of Europe and Africa and Asia having mostly white plumage but with black wings)

Himantopus himantopus leucocephalus; white-headed stilt (stilt of the southwest Pacific including Australia and New Zealand having mostly white plumage but with black wings and nape of neck)

Himantopus novae-zelandiae; kaki (blackish stilt of New Zealand sometimes considered a color phase of the white-headed stilt)

Holonyms ("stilt" is a member of...):

genus Himantopus; Himantopus (major one of two genera of stilts; similar to avocets but with straight bills)