tilt

Meanings

Verb

• To slope or incline (something); to slant.
• To charge (at someone) with a lance.
• To be at an angle.
• To point or thrust a weapon at.
• To point or thrust (a weapon).
• To forge (something) with a tilt hammer.
• To play worse than usual (often as a result of previous bad luck or losses).
• 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 cover with a tilt, or awning.

Noun

• 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.
• An attempt at something, such as a tilt at public office.
• A thrust, as with a lance.
• A tilt hammer.
• A canvas covering for carts, boats, etc.
• Any covering overhead; especially, a tent.

Related

Similar words

• slope
• incline
• slant

Origin

• From Middle English tilte, from Old English tyltan ("to be unsteady"), related to the adjective tealt, from Proto-Germanic *taltaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *del-, *dul-, see also Dutch touteren, North Frisian talt, tolt.. Cognate with Icelandic tölt ("an ambling place").
• 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.
• From Middle English telte, tield, teld, from Old English teld, from Proto-West Germanic *teld, from Proto-Germanic *teldą. Perhaps influenced by Middle Low German telt, or Danish telt. Cognates include German Zelt ("tent"), Old Norse tjald ("tent") (whence also archaic Danish tjæld). More at teld.