tilt
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to cause to lean, incline, slope, or slant.
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to rush at or charge, as in a joust.
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to hold poised for attack, as a lance.
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to move (a camera) up or down on its vertical axis for photographing or televising a moving character, object, or the like.
verb (used without object)
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to move into or assume a sloping position or direction.
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to strike, thrust, or charge with a lance or the like (usually followed byat ).
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to engage in a joust, tournament, or similar contest.
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(of a camera) to move on its vertical axis.
The camera tilts downward for an overhead shot.
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to incline in opinion, feeling, etc.; lean.
She's tilting toward the other candidate this year.
noun
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an act or instance of tilting.
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the state of being tilted; a sloping position.
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a slope.
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a joust or any other contest.
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a dispute; controversy.
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a thrust of a weapon, as at a tilt or joust.
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(in aerial photography) the angle formed by the direction of aim of a camera and a perpendicular to the surface of the earth.
idioms
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tilt at windmills, to contend against imaginary opponents or injustices. Also fight with windmills.
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(at) full tilt. full tilt.
noun
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a cover of coarse cloth, canvas, etc., as for a wagon.
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an awning.
verb (used with object)
verb
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to incline or cause to incline at an angle
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(usually intr) to attack or overthrow (a person or people) in a tilt or joust
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to aim or thrust
to tilt a lance
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(tr) to work or forge with a tilt hammer
noun
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a slope or angle
at a tilt
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the act of tilting
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a jousting contest
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a thrust with a lance or pole delivered during a tournament
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an attempt to win a contest
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See tilt hammer
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at full speed or force
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
- tiltable adjective
- tilter noun
Etymology
Origin of tilt1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English tilte(n), tilt(e), tult “to fall down, upset, tumble,” akin to Old English tealt “unsteady,” tealtian “to stumble”; compare dialectal Norwegian tylta “to tiptoe,” tylten “unsteady,” Swedish tulta “to totter”
Origin of tilt2
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English teld(e), telt(e), tild(e) “dwelling (temporary or permanent), fort, tent,” Old English teld “tent, pavilion”; cognate with German Zelt “tent,” Old Norse tjald “tent, tapestry, curtain”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This is when the northern hemisphere starts to tilt back towards the Sun and gains more solar radiation.
From BBC
For many years, researchers believed Saturn's precession matched Neptune's, allowing their gravitational interactions to gradually tilt Saturn and make its rings more visible from Earth.
From Science Daily
The balance of risks for growth remains tilted to the downside, the central bank said.
That benefited their two biggest equity funds, the $680 million Northern Small Cap Value and the $346 million Northern Large Cap Core, which have value and quality tilts.
From Barron's
Then, as I tilted the phone to the side, the display went dark, like it was turned off.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
