Meaning & use
stilts
Last updated
Meanings
nounusually plural
A pair of long poles with footrests that you stand on in order to walk high above the ground.
Grammar: Used mainly in the plural: walk on stilts, a pair of stilts.
Patterns
- walk on stilts
- on stilts
The street performer walked through the crowd on stilts.
Children at the fair learned to balance on wooden stilts.
He fell off his stilts and laughed.
nounusually plural
Tall posts that hold a building above water or soft ground.
Grammar: Often used with built: houses built on stilts.
Patterns
- built on stilts
- raised on stilts
The fishing huts stand on stilts above the lagoon.
Homes built on stilts stay dry when the river floods.
The restaurant is raised on stilts over the beach.
Word forms
| singular | stilt |
|---|
Common combinations
- walk on stilts
- It takes weeks of practice to walk on stilts.
- built on stilts
- Their cabin is built on stilts.
- a pair of stilts
- He bought a pair of stilts for the carnival.
- wooden stilts
- The children made wooden stilts from old poles.
- houses on stilts
- Houses on stilts line the river bank.
Synonyms and how they differ
- poles
- Poles is much more general and does not suggest a footrest or lifting a person.
- piles
- Piles are heavy posts driven into the ground to support a structure, so they are more technical than stilts.
- pillars
- Pillars suggest strong, solid supports for large buildings, not tall thin posts.
- props
- Props are temporary supports that hold something up, whereas stilts keep something raised on a regular basis.
Word family
Commonly confused: stilts or stilettos?
stilts vs stilettos
Stilettos are shoes with very thin high heels; stilts are poles or posts.
Practice
To protect them from floods, many homes in the village are built on ___.
Choose one answer.
Stilts are tall posts that lift buildings above water. Stilettos are shoes, stalks belong to plants and steps are stairs.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stilts”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.