tilt

I. noun Etymology: Middle English teld, telte tent, canopy, from Old English teld; akin to Old High German zelt tent Date: 15th century a canopy for a wagon, boat, or stall II. transitive verb Date: 15th century to cover or provide with a tilt III. noun Etymology: 4tilt Date: 1507 1. a. a contest on horseback in which two combatants charging with lances or similar weapons try to unhorse each other ; joust b. a tournament of tilts 2. a. dispute, contention b. speed — used in the phrase full tilt 3. a. the act of tilting ; the state or position of being tilted b. a sloping surface c. slant, bias <

a tilt toward military involvement

> 4. any of various contests resembling or suggesting tilting with lances • tilt adjective IV. verb Etymology: Middle English tulten, tilten to fall over, cause to fall, from Old English *tyltan, *tieltan, akin to Old English tealt unstable, tealtian to totter Date: 1594 transitive verb 1. to cause to have an inclination 2. a. to point or thrust in or as if in a tilt <

tilt a lance

> b. to charge against <

tilt an adversary

> intransitive verb 1. a. to move or shift so as to lean or incline ; slant b. to incline, tend, or become drawn toward an opinion, course of action, or one side of a controversy 2. a. to engage in a combat with lances ; joust b. to make an impetuous attack <

tilt at social evils

> • tiltable adjective • tilter noun