tilt¹ (tĭlt)

v., tilt·ed, tilt·ing, tilts.

v.tr.

1. To cause to slope, as by raising one end; incline: tilt a soup bowl; tilt a chair backward.
2. 1. To aim or thrust (a lance) in a joust.
   2. To charge (an opponent); attack.
3. To forge with a tilt hammer.

v.intr.

1. To slope; incline. See synonyms at slant.
2. To favor one side over another in a dispute; lean: "His views tilt unmistakably to the Arab position" (William Safire).
3. 1. To fight with lances; joust.
   2. To engage in a combat or struggle; fight: tilting at injustices.

n.

1. The act of tilting or the condition of being tilted.
2. 1. An inclination from the horizontal or vertical; a slant: adjusting the tilt of a writing table.
   2. A sloping surface, as of the ground.
3. 1. A tendency to favor one side in a dispute: the court's tilt toward conservative rulings.
   2. An implicit preference; a bias: "pitilessly illuminates the inaccuracies and tilts of the press" (Nat Hentoff).
4. 1. A medieval sport in which two mounted knights with lances charged together and attempted to unhorse one another.
   2. A thrust or blow with a lance.
5. A combat, especially a verbal one; a debate.
6. A tilt hammer.
7. New England. See seesaw (sense 1). See Regional Note at teeter-totter.

idiom:

at full tilt Informal.

1. At full speed: a tank moving at full tilt.

[Middle English tilten, to cause to fall, perhaps of Scandinavian origin.]

tilter tilt'er n.

tilt² (tĭlt)
n.
A canopy or an awning for a boat, wagon, or cart.

tr.v., tilt·ed, tilt·ing, tilts.
To cover (a vehicle) with a canopy or an awning.

[Middle English telte, tent, from Old English teld.]

---

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

---