▪ I. tilt, n.1
(tɪlt)
Also 5 telt(e, 5–7 tylt, 6 tylte, 7 tillte.
[Collateral form of ME. tild, teld n., perh. influenced by tent.]
1. A covering of coarse cloth, in early quots. of hair-cloth; an awning; a booth, tent, or tabernacle.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 488/1 Telte, or tente, tentorium. 1547 Privy Council Acts (1890) II. 133 Tyltes of heare to couver the powder. 1556 Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 110 On shoare, wee made a Tilt with our Oares and saile. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter i. 13 The apostle compares his life to a tabernacle; a little shed or tilt, wherin the immortal soul dwells. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iv. xii. (Roxb.) 504/1 The coffin had ouer it a tilt or stately frame of wood couered with black. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 1 July, Machines..fitted with tilts, that project from the seaward ends of them,..to screen the bathers from the view. |
2. spec. An awning over a boat.
| 1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl iv. ii, A boat, with a tilt over it. 1716 Gay Trivia i. 164 The rowing Crew To tempt a Fare, cloath all their Tilts in blue. 1887 Besant The World went ii, A broad canvas tilt or awning rigged up from stem to stern. |
3. An awning or cover for a cart, wagon, or motor vehicle, usually of canvas or tarpaulin.
| 1620 Shelton Quix. (1746) III. xi. 69 The Waggon's Self was opened, without Tilt or Boughs. a 1656 Ussher Ann. vi. (1658) 228 They covered the Cart with a base dirty tilt made of skins. 1753 Scots Mag. Nov. 541/1 The tilt or some other conspicuous place of his waggon. 1834 Pringle Afr. Sk. ii. 141 Each wagon is provided with a raised canvas tilt to protect the traveller from sun and rain. 1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 24 My waggon..on the hinder part of which stood a tilt or tent where I slept. 1976 Milton Keynes Express 16 July 31/3 (Advt.), 1975 Mini Pick-up, green, one owner, fitted tilt. 1977 ‘D. Rutherford’ Return Load iv. 77 One of his employees was fastening the blue canvas cover to the hooks on the side of one of the big, steel-framed tilts that were in such great demand for Continental journeys. |
4. In Labrador and Newfoundland: A fisherman's or wood-cutter's hut; also, a lean-to shelter.
| 1612 in G. M. Story et al. Dict. Newfoundland Eng. (1982) 567/2 They had made a tilte with a sayle, that they got from some Christian. 1819 L. A. Anspach Hist. Island of Newfoundland 468 They call tilts temporary log houses, which they erect in the woods to pursue there their winter occupations. 1895 R. G. Taber in Outing (U.S.) XXVII. 20/1 A score of shoresmen's ‘tilts’—rude turf-covered huts, some little cleaner than the Esquimaux' habitations. 1906 Toilers of Deep June 150/2 (Labrador) A few wooden ‘tilts’ nestled at the edge of the river... The ‘tilts’ are all very much alike—the general ‘living-room’,..and the beds in curtained-off recesses. The little colony..come from their homes at Cape Charles only for the winter's trapping and wood-cutting. |
5. attrib. and
Comb., as
tilt-maker,
tilt-weaver,
tilt-window;
tilt-like adj.; also
tilt-bonnet, a woman's or girl's bonnet in the form of a wagon-tilt, made by bending a piece of pasteboard into a half-cylinder, and covering it with linen or calico, a drawing-string holding it in shape, the material being extended to cover the crown and form a curtain (T. Hardy):
cf. coal-scuttle bonnet;
tilt-cloth,
= senses 1–3;
† tilt-hair, ? hair-cloth for tilts;
tilt-roof, ‘a round-topped roof, shaped like a tilt or wagon-cover’ (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1877);
† tilt-sail, ? a sail made of coarse cloth;
tilt-wherry, a wherry having a tilt, a
tilt-boat.
| 1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd xxv, The women..wore *tilt bonnets covered with nankeen. |
| 1611 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iv. 432 For a *tylt cloth, 2s. 6d. 1790 Luckombe Eng. Gazetteer III, Witney, Oxf... Tilt-cloths for bargemen are likewise made here. |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 488/1 *Telte hayyr (H., A., P. telt, hayre), gauda. 1562 in Rogers Agric. & Prices III. 576/1 Tilt hair. 35½ bolts {at} 1/4, 94 pieces {at} 11/-. |
| 1834 H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xiii. (1857) 203 The grey ruins, and the mossy, *tilt-like hillocks. |
| 1847 Addison Contracts ii. vii. §2 (1883) 921 The defendant ordered the plaintiff to make him a waggon, and..employed..a *tiltmaker to put on a tilt. |
| 1620 Shelton Quix. (1746) IV. xxii. 178 The General made all the Gallies strike their *Tilt-sails. 1579 Transcr. Faversham Parish Regr. (MS.), Erosamas Smalwodd, a tylte⁓weuer. |
| 1573 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 219, ii *Tylt whirreyes that caryed the Masking geare & Children. |
| 1799 Hull Advertiser 3 Aug. 4/1 She..thrust it out at one of the *tilt-windows. |
▪ II. tilt, n.2 (
tɪlt)
Also 6
tylt(e, 6–7
tilte.
[In branch I from tilt v.1 1; in br. II fr. tilt v.1 II.] I. 1. a. A combat or encounter (for exercise or sport) between two armed men on horseback, with lances or similar weapons, the aim of each being to throw his opponent from the saddle;
= joust n. 1; also, the exercise of riding with a lance, or the like, at a mark, as the quintain.
| 1511 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. I. 181 Thise iiij Knightes shall present themself..in harneys for the Tylte. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 13, I maie commende hym for plaiyng at weapons, for runnyng vppon a greate horse, for chargyng his staffe at the Tilt. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. lvii. (1674) 74 [To] spend a hundred thousand Crowns in Tilt and Turney. 1745 Sir C. Williams in H. Walpole Mem. Geo. II (1847) II. App. 396 Low pleasures, such as operas, plays, masquerades, tilts, and tournaments. 1859 Tennyson Enid 52 Forgetful of the tilt and tournament. |
b. transf. and
fig. An encounter, combat, contest; a debate, public dispute or discussion. In 17–18th c. often applied to a duel.
| 1567 Turberv. Epit. Dame Elyz. Arhundle 3 Who ran hir race in vertues tylt aright, And neuer had at Fortunes hand the foyle. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1692) 21 He would not fly the tilt nor start from any colour of accusation. 1693 Humours Town 27 A modish Tilt upon a foolish hot-headed Punctilio. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 39 ¶16 We..generally conducted our Dispute and Tilt according to the last that had happen'd between Persons of Reputation. 1882 F. M. Crawford Mr. Isaacs ii, I trust that our collision in the flesh has had no worse results than our tilts in print. 1906 Spectator 3 Feb. 173/2 She enjoys the tilt of rather rough speech. |
c. A thrust of a weapon, as at a tilt. Now only
fig.| 1716 Addison Freeholder No. 10 ¶5 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. 1754 Richardson Grandison (1781) I. xiv. 82 Miss Barnevelt took a tilt in heroics. 1863 Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. viii. 200 She has a tilt at him, jeering, joking, mystifying, obfuscating him. |
2. A place for holding tilts or justs; a tilting ground or yard; the lists.
| a 1510 Justes May & June 1507. 68 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 116 Two seruauntes of this lady of delyte Sholde bemounted armed and redy dyght At atyltes ende. 1530 Palsgr. 183 Vnes lices, a tylte to lerne to juste at. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 45 b, The kyng..rode about the Tylt. 1564 Haward Eutropius vii. 75 He fynyshed sondry pieces of work at Rome among which was..the Tilt [L. forum transitorium], a place for men to run in. 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. ii. ix. (1589) 35 In beaten Pathes, ore boorded Tylthes [? Tyltes] to breake their staffe-like Reeds. |
3. Phr. (from 1 or 2).
a. to run at (the) tilt: to ride in a tilt or just.
| 1548 Elyot Dict., Decurrere in armis, to renne at the tylte in harneys. 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, v. v, When for her sake I ran at tilt in France, And there unhors'd the Duke of Cleremont. 1611 Cotgr., Courir la lance, to tilt, or, to run at tilt. 1636 P. Randall in Ann. Dubrensia (1877) 19 As they at Tilt, so wee at Quintain runne. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. iii. Disc. xx. 143 Henry II was killed running at Tilt. |
b. So
to run a tilt (see also
a-tilt 2,
a prep.1); also
fig. Also rarely
to run tilt.
| 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 51 Break a Launce, and runne a-Tilt at Death. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 145 If you make two such bodies..to run a tilt upon such a line of odd leastings. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) I. 158 The next..exhibits two knights running a tilt on the foreground. 1831 Carlyle in Froude Life (1882) II. viii. 170 With her..I was provoked.., so pert was she, to run tilt, and I fear transfix her. 1871 Miss Mulock Fair France i. 3 Like Don Quixote with his windmill..it is running a tilt against perfectly imaginary foes. 1891 Temple Bar Mag. Sept. 102 He runs tilt against the hypocrisies of social life. |
c. full tilt (
advb. phr.): at full speed and with direct thrust; with utmost adverse force or impetus.
| ? a 1600 Hist. Tom Thumb ii. 45 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 213 The cook was running on full tilt, When Tom fell from the air. 1679 Hist. Jetzer 24 Drawing out his knife, [he] made at her Ladyship full tilt. 1861 Temple Bar Mag. IV. 83 Managers of schools should run full tilt at the whole scheme. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkb. 145 The Earl rode full tilt at him as though he would have unhorsed him. |
II. 4. a. The act of tilting, or fact or condition of being tilted (
tilt v.
1 4); a sudden or abrupt divergence from the normal vertical or horizontal position; inclination upward or downward.
[Implied in
quots. 1562, 1658, 1706 in b.]
| 1837 Babbage Bridgew. Treat. App. 246 The variation of pressure, and the infirmity of supports broken by weights or softened by heat, to produce tilts. 1859 All Year Round No. 29. 67 The twinkle of his eye, and the saucy tilt of his ragged cap, spoke volumes. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. Apr. 262/1 Until one tilt, stronger than the others, upset the lamp. 1906 Daily News 5 Mar. 6 Leaning against the wall..with his stool at a perilous tilt. |
b. on or upon the tilt: in a tilted position, like a cask or vessel raised on one end or side when nearly empty:
= a-tilt 1. Also
fig.| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 194 Till tubbe stande a tilte. 1658 T. Goodwin Fair Prospect Ep. Ded., When her natural strength, and Abilities began to run low, and on Tilt, as it were; Her Spiritual affections seemed as if but fresh broached. 1706 E. Baynard in Sir J. Floyer Hot & Cold Bath. ii. 419 When (low drawn) Time's upon the Tilt, Few Sands and Minutes left to run. 1712 Spect. No. 292 ¶4 Liberality..performed with such Chearfulness..that may shew Good-nature and Benevolence overflowed, and do not, as in some Men, run upon the Tilt, and taste of the Sediments of a grutching uncommunicative Disposition. |
c. Geol. An abrupt upheaval of strata to a considerable angle from the horizontal.
d. gen. A slope, or sloping portion, of the surface of the ground.
| 1859 Page Geol. Terms, Tilted up, applied to strata that are suddenly or abruptly thrown up at a high angle of inclination. Tilts of this nature are usually accompanied by fractures and crushings of the strata. 1903 G. A. Smith in Expositor Jan. 7 This tilt towards Olivet does not exhaust the eastern bent and disposition of the city. 1910 Daily News 27 Aug. 4 As we crossed a tilt of the torn heath I saw suddenly between myself and the moon a black shapeless pile. |
e. Television and
Cinematogr. (See
quot. 1959.)
| 1959 Halas & Manvell Technique Film Animation 342 Tilt, the upward or downward pivoting movement of the camera across the screen. 1963 D. Botting in A. Smith Throw out Two Hands App. i. 266 A Miller tripod with a fully fluid head..giving smooth, controlled pans and tilts even with extreme long-focus lenses. |
f. fig. An inclination; a bias.
| 1975 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 11 May 14 The contribution to the American language of other cultures has long been acknowledged..but it is unscholarly to insist on a ‘tilt’ toward minority contribution to satisfy resentment over past neglect. 1978 Time 18 Dec. 40 The pro-Soviet tilt of the new rulers in Kabul, the Afghan capital, is already stirring some recriminations in Washington. |
† 5. The liquor, or sediment, obtained by tilting a vessel; dregs, lees.
Obs.| a 1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 449 The tilt and lees of traditions, dregges of custome, and poyson of Popish decrees. |
6. A contrivance used in North America in fishing through a hole in the ice, in which a stick or cross-piece is tilted up when the fish takes the hook.
b. On a pinball table or machine, a device that stops the game if the table or machine is jarred or lifted (see
quot. 1976
2). Also
fig. and
attrib., as
tilt mechanism, etc.
The tilt mechanism was invented by H. Williams in 1933, and was first used on a ‘Signal’ machine manufactured by Bally Co. in 1934. Early illustrations of this use are not easy to trace.
| [1934 Billboard (Cincinnati) 17 Nov. 67 (Advt.), Anti-tilt.] 1953 Business Week 19 Dec. 55/2 Tilt, says Court{ddd} A federal court handed down a ruling that would put a pinball machine in the same category as a slot machine if a player gets a cash payoff. 1972 G. L. Morrisey Appraisal & Devel. through Objectives & Results v. 62 We should bear in mind that a performance expectation or standard is a red flag. It says, ‘Whoa! Stop! Tilt! Something's wrong!’ 1976 H. McKeown Pinball Portfolio viii. 156/2 If a table is moved too much during a game in an effort to alter the course of the ball, a tilt mechanism cancels either the whole game or the ball in play. Ibid., When the game is tilted all the lights go out and the word tilt is illuminated in the backflash glass. 1983 Times 30 Dec. 22/7 The pinball machine flashes ‘tilt’. |
c. to (light up and) say ‘tilt’, to register by one's look or reaction that something is wrong.
colloq.| 1953, 1972 [see sense 6 b above]. 1974 L. Deighton Spy Story xvi. 173 Anything concerning submarines made Dawlish light up and say tilt. 1980 G. Hammond Reward Game xi. 157 ‘No, we've already been offered forty by Frank Hutch—’ ‘That should make him light up and say {oqq}Tilt{cqq},’ Keith said with satisfaction. 1984 L. Deighton Mexico Set viii. 113 ‘It's nothing to do with virtue and evil{ddd} It's a game of chance.’ ‘Is there nothing that lights up and says ‘tilt’ when you cheat?’ |
7. In Newfoundland, A pier on which fishermen unload and dress their fish.
8. Short for
tilt-hammer.
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 241 The annexed figure is the plan of a tilt. 1858 Greener Gunnery 167 [By] welding and forging by the heavy hammer, reducing by a tilt and rolling down to the smallest description of rod, a most excellent, tenacious, and dense body of iron is thus obtained. 1896 Daily News 27 Jan. 8/5 The activity at the forges, rolling mills, and tilts where large quantities..are prepared. |
III. 9. The stilt or long-legged plover of North America. (
Cf. tilt-up A. 2.)
| 1831 A. Wilson & Bonaparte Amer. Ornith. III. 77 The name by which this bird is known on the seacoast is the stilt or tilt, or long-shanks. 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Lawyer. 1. (Himantopus nigricollis.) The black-necked Stilt..known also by the names of Tilt and Longshanks. |
IV. 10. attrib. and
Comb., as
tilt-day,
tilt-horse;
tilt cab, a cab of a lorry, etc., which can tilt forwards;
tilt-cart, a cart of which the body can be tilted so as to empty out the contents;
tilt-forge, a forge in which a tilt-hammer is used;
tilt guard: see under
tilt-yard;
tilt house = tilt-mill (
b);
tiltmeter Geol., an instrument for measuring changes in the steepness of a slope;
tilt-mill, (
a) the machinery for working a tilt-hammer; (
b) a building in which a tilt-hammer is worked;
tilt-rod, a curved rod projecting from the rear of a tricycle so as to catch the ground in the event of the machine being tilted backward;
tilt-staff, a staff used instead of a lance in tilting;
tilt-top a., having a top that tilts;
tilt-wheel, (
a) a little wheel at the end of the tilt-rod of a tricycle; (
b)
U.S., a steering wheel that tilts;
tilt-wing a. and n., (designating) an aircraft with wings that tilt. See also
tilt-hammer,
tilt-yard.
| 1963 Lebende Sprachen VIII. 166/1 *Tilt cab. 1977 Horse & Hound 10 June 42/1 (Advt.), Container 21ft Williams with Luton for tilt cab, metal framed and in sound order. |
| 1834 J. B. Buckstone Wreck Ashore ii. iii. 40, I ha' just brought him home from the Physickiners in a *tilt cart. |
| 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 660 If they are tilt or coup-carts, he elevates the front a few inches. |
| 1605 Camden Rem. 174 At the next *Tilte-day following. |
| 1836 Blackw. Mag. XXXIX. 339 We passed some usines, *tilt-forges, where the makers of nails [etc.] use the power to tilt hammers of small water wheels placed on one of the..streams. |
| 1894 Times 28 May 6/1 The 2nd Life Guards, furnishing the *tilt guard, sent a squadron of about 50 of all ranks. 1909 Daily Chron. 20 Feb. 5/3 What we call the Horse Guards, which was then called the Tilt Yard (where the guard, I think, is still called the Tilt guard). |
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 178 A *Tilt horse, alias a beere horse to bee, Which wouldst thou bee? |
| 1864 Strauss, etc. Eng. Workshops 90 Two hammer or *tilt houses. |
| 1937 Nature 10 Apr. 616/1 In both the Tango and Ito districts, *tiltmeters..were erected. 1980 New Scientist 26 June 388/2 Everything that is happening to Mount St Helens is a ‘classroom’ experience for geologists and scientists scrambling to gather as much data as they can with seismic recording instruments, tiltmeters, and water level gauges. |
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 337 The *tilt-mills employed in the manufacture of steel. |
| 1912 J. T. Fowler Let. to Editor, Modern tricycles cannot be tilted backward, and so do not require *tilt-rods. |
| 1650 W. Saunderson Aulicus Coquin. 69 He medled not with the *Tilt-staff. |
| 1940 I. Crump Our Airliners vii. 138 For this disassembling operation, the engine is bolted on a portable *tilttop table. 1973 Canadian Antiques Collector Jan.–Feb. 12/1 A birch tilt-top candlestand with an oval top. |
| 1886 Cycl. Tour. C. Gaz. IV. 144 *Tilt wheels loose are very noisy. 1974 State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 15 Feb. 19-b/7 (Advt.), Power steering, power brakes, tilt wheel, vinyl roof, rally wheels. |
| 1953 W. A. Shrader Fifty Years of Flight 124/2 Spratt Aircraft Co...test-flies another in a series of *tilt-wing flying boats designed by George Spratt. 1963 Times 2 Dec. 9/7 Two prototypes of a twin-engined ‘tilt-wing’ short and vertical take-off and landing transport aircraft. 1970 New Scientist 23 Apr. 173/1 Several tilt-wings have flown satisfactorily. |
Add:
[IV.] [10.] tilt rotor Aeronaut. = tilting rotor s.v. *
tilting ppl. a. 3 b; hence, an aircraft fitted with these;
freq. attrib.| 1961 P. W. Brooks Mod. Airliner vi. 153 Various categories of V.T.O.L. aircraft..*Tilt-rotor convertiplane (1954). Transcendental Model 1-g, Bell xv-3. 1963 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LXVII. 363/1 The unloaded rotor, the tilt rotor, various ducted fans, fans in wings, and so forth, were eliminated and the final selection was the tilt-wing. 1976 J. Fay Helicopter (ed. 3) ix. 147 In the tilt-rotor machine the rotors are mounted at the tips of relatively small wings. 1987 New Scientist 1 Oct. 38/1 The designers of the new hybrid call their aircraft a tiltrotor. It takes off as a helicopter, the rotors on the wing then tilt..so that the aircraft can fly as a conventional turboprop aircraft. |
▸
tilt switch n. a switch which permits a current to pass only when tilted (or not tilted) beyond a certain angle.
| 1946 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 59 587 Fastened to the lower lever are three mercury *tilt-switches. Two of these switches operate shielded lights on the experimenter's..control table. 1979 Daily Tel. 29 Aug. 3/2 There was speculation in military circles..that the bomb which killed Lord Mountbatten was activated by a ‘tiltswitch’ device like the one used in the murder of Mr Airey Neave. 2004 K. Smith Environmental Hazards (ed. 4) vii. 138 Automatic avalanche detectors, using tilt switches, are suspended from a cableway near to the road over the most active avalanche track. |
▪ III. † tilt, n.3 slang. Obs. In 7
tylt.
A cant name for some species of rogue.
| 1620 Dekker Dreame (1860) 38 Base heapes tumbled together,..high-way-standers, Foists, nips, and tylts, prinadoes, bawdes, pimpes, panders. |
▪ IV. tilt, v.1 (
tɪlt)
Also 4
tylte, 7
tylt.
pa. tense and pple. tilted; also 4
pa. tense tult,
pa. pple. tylt, 5
pa. tense and pple. tilt.
[In I, ME. tylten, repr. an OE. *tyltan for *tieltan:—*talt-jan, f. OE. tealt unsteady, shaky, tealt (whence OE. tealtian:—*talt-ôjan to be unsteady). Cf. Norw. tylten adj. inclined to fall over, unsteady, Sw. tulta to totter. Branch II is from I; but br. III is from tilt n.2 1 (deriv. of 1 here); br. IV from tilt-hammer: these are thus, strictly, separate vbs. of secondary origin.] I. † 1. trans. To cause to fall; to thrust, push, throw down or over; to overthrow, overturn, upset.
Obs. (
exc. as in 4 c, 6 b).
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 832 Þe trestes tylt to þe woȝe & þe table boþe. Ibid. 1213 Ouer-tok hem, as tyd, tult hem of sadeles. a 1400–50 Alexander 1303 Sone þe top of þe toure he tiltis in-to þe watir. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1063/1 He..said to his wife; Mistrys Alice what milke haue you giuen me here? Wheerewithall she tilted it ouer with her hand, saieng, I weene nothing can please you. |
† 2. intr. To fall over, tumble; be overthrown.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 252 With-outen towche of any tothe he [Jonah] tult in his [the whale's] þrote. Ibid. 361 Truly þis ilk toun schal tylte to grounde. a 1375 Joseph Arim. 4 Feole temples þer-inne tulten to þe eorþe, For heore false ymages þat þei on leeueden. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1144 Untenderly fro þe toppe thai tiltin to-gederz. |
3. intr. To move unsteadily up and down;
esp. of waves or a ship at sea, to pitch.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. ii. 6 (Fols. 2 & 3) What obseruation mad'st thou in this case Of [Fol.1 Oh,] his hearts Meteors tilting in his face? 1594 Marlowe Dido i. i, Phrygian ships..so wrack'd and welter'd by the waves, As every tide tilts 'twixt their oaken sides. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 747 The floating Vessel..with beaked prow Rode tilting o're the Waves. 1725 Pope Odyss. xiv. 289 And tilting o'er the bay the vessels ride. 1822–56 De Quincey Confess. (1862) 238 To and fro, up and down, did I tilt upon those mountainous seas. 1826 A. A. Watts Death Pompey v, A bark comes tilting through the spray. 1878 Mrs. Stowe Poganuc P. xxviii. 238 The..tree..where the bobolink was tilting up and down. |
II. 4. a. trans. To cause to lean abruptly from the vertical or incline abruptly from the horizontal; to slope, slant;
to tilt up, to raise one end or side above the other, to tip up. Also
fig. In
Geol. used in
pass. of strata inclined abruptly upwards from their horizontal position:
cf. tilt n.2 4 c.
| 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 59 It is also very good to tilt your beere, when the Vessel is little more then halfe drawn off, for so you shall draw your beere good euen to the latter end. 1607 Middleton Michaelm. Term iv. iv, Give her more air; tilt up her head. 1807 Herschel in Phil. Trans. XCVII. 199 By gently lifting up or tilting the lens. 1833 Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 340 Sedimentary beds tilted up, and more or less contorted on the flanks of the mountains. 1868 Joynson Metals 19 Where the waggons are tilted and their contents shot out. 1908 Blackw. Mag. Sept. 319/2 His helmet tilted well to the rear to screen his neck. 1976 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 12 Nov. 1/3 The UN [sc. Union Nationale] will have taken seats from the Liberals and acted as spoiler in many other ridings, tilting the victory toward the Parti Quebecois. 1979 N.Y. Post 8 Aug. 2/5 Yesterday Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan charged that the U.S. was tilting its policy toward the PLO to appease Saudi Arabia and insure a steady flow of oil at reasonable prices. |
b. intr. To move into a slanted position or direction; to incline, slope, slant, heel over, tip
up. Also
fig.| 1626 Bacon Sylva §155 Keeping it even, that it may not tilt on either side. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxii. ¶2 Letting the hither side of the Board rest upon the hither Ledge of the Rincing-Trough; that the Form may tilt downwards. 1795 Herschel in Phil. Trans. LXXXV. 408 The tube..by its great weight..will..tilt backwards. 1861 Smiles Engineers II. 274 He accidentally set his foot upon a loose plank, which tilted up, and he fell into the water. 1909 Daily Chron. 24 Feb. 1/5 South Africa also tilts to the east in summer and to the west in winter. This is probably traceable to the seasonal rainfall. 1967 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 10 Nov. 2/9 During the India-Pakistan war, President Nixon ordered assistance to one side... Press reports at the time said Mr. Nixon wanted to ‘tilt’ in favour of Pakistan. 1978 Guardian Weekly 22 Jan. 17/3 Officials tend to tilt toward secrecy from a parochial view of their responsibilities. |
c. trans. To pour or empty out (the contents of a vessel), or cause them to flow to one side, by tilting the vessel.
| a 1613 [see tilted ppl. a.2 2]. 1865 Lewes in Fortn. Rev. II. 702 To tumble out their sentences as they would tilt stones from a cart. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. xii, He poured the wine into his mouth, tilted it into his right cheek. 1883 Hardwich's Photogr. Chem. xiii. (ed. Taylor) 281 Tilt the developing fluid backwards and forwards upon the film for about thirty seconds. 1899 Daily News 20 Nov. 7/5 They object to being tilted out of a truck like potatoes out of a sack. |
d. Television and
Cinematogr. To move (a camera) in a vertical plane.
| 1915 A. Lockett in B. E. Jones Cinematograph Bk. iv. 26 Tilting the camera causes convergence of upright lines. |
III. [
f. tilt n.2 1.]
5. a. intr. To engage in a tilt or just; to just or joust.
| 1595 T. Edwardes L'Envoy to Cephalus & Procris vii, Although he differs much from men Tilting under Frieries. 1611 Cotgr., Courir la lance, to tilt, or, to run at tilt. 1622 in Crt. & Times Jas. I (1848) II. 305 He ran at the ring, and tilted with the Lord Montjoy. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. i. (1709) 131 'Tis not yet the Fashion for Women of Quality to Tilt. 1859 Tennyson Enid 480 But in this tournament can no man tilt, Except the lady he loves best be there. |
† b. transf. See
quots. Obs.| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, To tilt, to fight with a Rapier. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Tilt, to run at Tilts, to fence or thrust with Swords or Foils. |
c. transf. and
fig. To engage in a contest; to combat, encounter, contend (
with); to strike or thrust
at with a weapon, to charge or impinge
against.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 483 Loe, he is tilting straight. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 74 Her eyes were like the fierie torches tilting against the Moone. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. i. 163 He Tilts With Peircing steele at bold Mercutio's breast. 1613–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. i, Against whose naked brest The surges tilted. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Lond. (1662) ii. 193 With which Horn he tilteth at his prey. 1733 Pope Hor. Sat. ii. i. 70 Satire's my weapon, but I'm too discreet To run a muck, and tilt at all I meet. 1809 N. Pinkney Trav. France 25, I resolved..never to tilt with a French lady in compliment. 1908 [Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 12 Coifi struck down the idol..tilting at it with his spear. |
d. To ‘charge’ into a place or on some one; to run
against, rush or burst
in,
through, etc.
| 1831 T. L. Peacock Crotchet Castle xviii, He..seized a long lance, threw open the gates, and tilted out on the rabble. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. ii. (1857) 21 Not at all sure that I might not tilt against old John in the dark. 1873 Howells Chance Acquaint. iv, Tilting along through the crowd with a half-staggering run. |
6. trans. (loose uses):
a. To poise (the lance) for a thrust.
| 1708 J. Philips Cyder ii. 603 Sons against Fathers tilt the fatal Lance. c 1870 B. Harte Twenty Years Poems (1886) 36 The apple-blooms shook on the hill; And the mullein-stalks tilted each lance. |
b. To tilt at; to rush at, charge; to drive or thrust by tilting.
| 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 465 Shooting at a mark or tilting it with darts. 1822 W. Irving Braceb. Hall xxiv, Never so happy as when they can tilt a gentleman logician out of his saddle. 1893 Cornh. Mag. June 597 The wood⁓cock often disport themselves,..tilting one another with ruffled plumage. |
c. To drive or thrust with violence.
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 29 A tempest..Oure ships to Libye land with rough extremitye tilted. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. i. (1709) 115 If it was the Custom to Tilt your Head against a Post. |
IV. [
f. ]
7. trans. To forge or work with a tilt-hammer.
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 770 It is cast into ingots, which by gentle heating and careful hammering, are tilted into bars. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 241 All steel, whether cast or skear, which is to be used for the best articles, should be tilted to the strength required. 1889 Q. Rev. July 137 When ‘piled’ and ‘tilted’; that is..cut up into short lengths, laid in bundles, reheated, welded, and consolidated into a solid mass under the tilt hammer. |
▪ V. tilt, v.2 (
tɪlt)
[f. tilt n.1] trans. To cover with a tilt or awning. (Chiefly in
pa. pple.)
| 1499 [implied in tilting vbl. n.2]. 1587 M. Grove Pelops & Hipp. Poems (1878) 22 Omaus king doth stay Ere this time long in closet tilte To heare what we can say. 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 295 A great barke..very well tilted and dressed. 1625 Gonsalvio's Sp. Inquis. 64 To row vpon the riuer in Barges tilted with purple and silke. 1818 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. LXXXVII. 479 Felt, with which they tilted their waggons. 1839 Sat. Mag. Supp., June 253/2 The cart is tilted with canes and straw neatly wattled. |
▪ VI. tilt pa. tense of
till v.
2 Obs.;
obs. f. tilth.