Word.ws English Dictionary

tilt

/tɪlt/

tilt verb: to slope or incline (something); to slant.

Verb (1)

tilt (third-person singular simple present tilts, present participle tilting, simple past and past participle tilted)

  1. (transitive) To slope or incline (something); to slant.
    • Tilt the barrel to pour out its contents.
  2. (intransitive) To be at an angle.
    • For as the Trunk of the Body, is kept from tilting forvvard by the Muſcules of the Back: So, from falling backvvard, by theſe of the Belly.1701, Nehemiah Grew, “Of the Use of Organized Bodies”, in Cosmologia Sacra: Or A Discourse of the Universe as It is the Creature and Kingdom of God. […], London: […] W[illiam] Rogers, S[amuel] Smith...
    • “Marge Gets A Job” opens with the foundation of the Simpson house tilting perilously to one side, making the family homestead look like the suburban equivalent of the Leaning Tower Of Pisa.2012 May 20, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club
  3. (intransitive, jousting) To charge (at someone) with a lance.
    • Auster and Aquilon with winged Steeds / All ſweating, tilt about the watery heauens, / With ſhiuering ſpeares enforcing thunderclaps, / And from their ſhields ſtrike flames of lighteningc. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
    • He tilts / With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  4. (transitive) To point or thrust a weapon at.
    • And he should tilt her?c. 1609–1622?, John Fletcher, “The Womans Prize: Or, The Tamer Tamed”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please...
    • I say I quarrel’d with you; / We did not tilt each other – that’s a blessing, – / Good gods! no innocent blood upon my head!a. 1822 (date written), John Keats, “[Tragedies.] Otho the Great: A Tragedy in Five Acts.”, in [Horace Elisha Scudder], editor, The Complete Poetical Works and Letters of John Keats, Cambridge...
  5. (transitive) To point or thrust (a weapon).
    • Sons against fathers tilt the fatal lance.1708, John Philips, Cyder
  6. To forge (something) with a tilt hammer.
    • to tilt steel in order to render it more ductile
  7. (pinball) 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.
  8. (slang) To enter a state of frustration and worsened performance resulting from a series of losses.
    • The D.F.S. industry is still inextricably tied up in those poker roots. Players talk about "tilting" because of "variance," especially when a "fish" puts in a "donkey" lineup that ends up going crazy. (In regular American English, this translates roughly to "I am really mad because some idiot...2016 January 6, Jay Caspian Kang, “How the Daily Fantasy Sports Industry Turns Fans Into Suckers”, in The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived...
    • Even the best players can tilt which can cause their performance to drop significantly. Players often tilt when they're on a losing spree or frustrated with the game.2022 September 2, Gökhan Çakır, Harrison Thomas, “How to get better at VALORANT”, in Dot Esports, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2023
  9. (figuratively) To modify one's approach.
    • While self-checkout machines are often used alongside cashiers, labor unions say that tilting toward fully cashierless operations threatens the French way of life by encouraging American-style consumerism and automation, putting thousands of jobs at risk.2019 December 26, Liz Alderman, “Self-Checkout in France Sets Off Battle Over a Day of Rest”, in The New York Times

Noun (1)

tilt (countable and uncountable, plural tilts)

  1. A slope or inclination.
  2. The inclination of part of the body, such as backbone, pelvis, head, etc.
  3. The controlled vertical movement of a camera, or a device to achieve this.
  4. A jousting contest. (countable)
    • Justs and tilts were held here weekly, while the great tourneys that occurred less often were given upon a field outside the castle wall upon the floor of the valley.1928, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 11, in Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, page 139
  5. An attempt, run, or bid for something; commonly with a sense of bold defiance or against steep odds.
    • He made a tilt at public office
    • It rained all Melbourne Cup day and I was left with about forty dozen Referees. The newspaper offices would only take a limited number of returns; and I took ‘the knock,’ which was a little hard, considering it was my first serious tilt at the world.1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 6
  6. A thrust, as with a lance.
    • His Majesty[…]entertain'd him with the Slaughter of two or three of his Liege Subjects, whom he very dexterously put to Death with the Tilt of his Lance.1716 December 8 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 10. Tuesday, November 28. [1716.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […]...
  7. A tilt hammer.
  8. A penalty triggered when a player physically shakes, lifts, or bangs a pinball machine too violently in an attempt to influence the path of the ball.
  9. (slang, uncountable) A state of frustration and worsened performance resulting from a series of losses.
    • to go on tilt
    • In his landmark book, The Mental Game of Poker, sports psychologist Jared Tendler defines "tilt" as "anger + bad play". In short, you lose your mental equilibrium and start playing below your best, often making big mistakes. Tilt is caused by many different factors and Tendler defines seven types...2014 September 10, Amit Varma, “Magnus Carlsen's weakness”, in The Economic Times, Mumbai: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2014

Noun (2)

tilt (plural tilts)

  1. A canvas covering for carts, boats, etc.
    • The tilt hooding the spring-cart was insecure - even the jolt from the down-and-up curving river bend near the house had brought it down twice.1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 253
  2. Any covering overhead; especially, a tent.
    • But the rain made an ass
      Of tilt and canvasa. 1669, John Denham, To Sir John Mennis, being invited from Calais to Boulogne, to eat a Pig

Verb (2)

tilt (third-person singular simple present tilts, present participle tilting, simple past and past participle tilted)

  1. (transitive) To cover with a tilt, or awning.

Proper noun capitalized: Tilt

Tilt

  1. A river in Perth and Kinross council area, Scotland, that joins the River Garry at Blair Atholl.

tilt meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

tilt in Hindi

tilt, leaning, inclination
झुकाव jhukāv
to tilt, lean
ढलना ḍhalnā
to tilt
झुकाना jhukānā

tilt in Tamil

சாய்

tilt in Marathi

झुकणे

tilt in Urdu

ڈھلان, جھونپڑی, جھکاؤ, خیمہ, ڈھلکنا, جھکنا
More languagesFewer languages
tilt in Bengali
হেলানো
tilt in Malayalam
ചരിയുക cariyuka, കോടുക kōṭuka
tilt in Kannada
ಓರೆಯಾಗು, ಬಾಗು, ವಾಲು
tilt in Punjabi
ਟਿਲਟਿੰਗ
tilt in Gujarati
નમવું, ટિલ્ટિંગ, ઝુકવું
tilt in Nepali
ढल्नु ḍhalnu
tilt in Tagalog
humiwas
tilt in Indonesian
memiringkan, miring

Examples of tilt in a sentence

  • But in this tournament can no man tilt, / Except the lady he loves best be there.1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 26:
  • At Offham, in Kent, tilting at the quintain provides a climax to the day's revels.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 263:
  • City will now make the Premier League an even bigger priority, while regrouping and planning again for what they hope will be another tilt at the Champions League next season.2011 December 7, Phil McNulty, “Man City 2 - 0 Bayern Munich”, in BBC Sport:
  • In his landmark book, The Mental Game of Poker, sports psychologist Jared Tendler defines "tilt" as "anger + bad play".2014 September 10, Amit Varma, “Magnus Carlsen's weakness”, in The Economic Times, Mumbai: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC...

All 40 example sentences with tilt

Synonyms of tilt

All synonyms of tilt

Forms of tilt

Verb
third-person singular presenttilts
present participletilting
past participletilted
pasttilted
Noun
pluraltilts

Past tense of tilt: tilted

Plural of tilt: tilts

Origin of tilt

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.

From Middle English telte, tield, teld, from Old English teld (“tent”), from Proto-West Germanic *teld, from Proto-Germanic *teldą (“tent”). Perhaps influenced by Middle Low German telt, or Danish telt. Cognates include German Zelt (“tent”), Old Norse tjald (“tent”) (whence also archaic Danish tjæld (“tent”)). More at teld.

Words formed from tilt

Phrases with tilt

Words that rhyme with tilt

7 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about tilt

What does tilt mean?
Tilt means to slope or incline (something); to slant.
What is tilt in Hindi?
Tilt in Hindi is झुकाव (jhukāv), ढलना (ḍhalnā), झुकाना (jhukānā). See Tilt meaning in Hindi.
How do you use tilt in a sentence?
But in this tournament can no man tilt, / Except the lady he loves best be there.
What part of speech is tilt?
Tilt can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce tilt?
Tilt is pronounced /tɪlt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of tilt?
The past tense of tilt is tilted.

Words near tilt in the dictionary

  1. Tilsit
  2. Tilson
  3. Tilsons
  4. Tilstone Fearnall
  5. tilsuprost
  6. tilt
  7. tilt at windmills
  8. tilt barrier
  9. tilt barriers
  10. Tilt Cove
  11. tilt fan

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tilt (page history and authors); Tilt (page history and authors); झुकाना (Hindi) (page history and authors); tilt (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tilt (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tilt (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tilt (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); കോടുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); tilt (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tilt (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tilt (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ढल्नु (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-tilt.wav.

Cite this entry: “tilt.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tilt. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.