|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
stilt
stilt common name for some members of the family Recurvirostridae, shore birds including the avocet . Stilts, as their name implies, have the longest legs of any bird except the flamingo. They frequent open marshes and shallow water, wading with long strides and probing the mud for food with their long, thin bills. They are also good swimmers and fliers. Their floating nests are anchored along the edges of quiet pools. The common black-necked, or pied, stilt, Himantopus mexicanus, an elegant bird with a black back and white belly, is cosmopolitan in temperate and tropical regions. The banded stilt, Cladorhyncus leucocephalus, is found in Australia and Tasmania. Stilts are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Charadriiformes, family Recurvirostridae. |
|
|
Cite this article
"stilt." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "stilt." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-stilt.html "stilt." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-stilt.html |
|
stilt
stilt / stilt/ • n. 1. either of a pair of upright poles with supports for the feet enabling the user to walk at a distance above the ground. ∎ each of a set of posts or piles supporting a building above the ground. ∎ a small, flat, three-pointed support for ceramic ware in a kiln. 2. a long-billed wading bird (Himantopus and other genera, family Recurvirostridae) with predominantly black and white plumage and long slender reddish legs. PHRASES: on stilts 1. supported by stilts. 2. (of language) bombastic or stilted: he is talking nonsense on stilts, and he knows it. |
|
|
Cite this article
"stilt." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "stilt." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-stilt.html "stilt." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-stilt.html |
|
stilt
stilt (dial.) crutch XIV; †handle of a plough XIV; each of a pair of poles with brackets raising a walker's feet above the ground XV; post or pile on which a building is raised XVII. ME. stilte, corr. immed. to LG., Flem. stilte, Norw. stilta :- Gmc. *stiltjōn; rel. to MLG., MDu. stelte (Du. stelt), OHG. stelza (G. stelze):- *steltōn, and Sw. stylta, Da. stylte :- *stultjōn.
Hence stilt vb. elevate artificially XVII (pp. stilted in the sense ‘artificially or affectedly elevated’ XIX). |
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "stilt." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "stilt." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-stilt.html T. F. HOAD. "stilt." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-stilt.html |
|
Stilt
Stilt See RECURVIROSTRIDAE.
|
|
|
Cite this article
MICHAEL ALLABY. "Stilt." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "Stilt." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-Stilt.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "Stilt." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-Stilt.html |
|
stilt
stilt
•gestalt • asphalt
•belt, Celt, dealt, dwelt, felt, gelt, knelt, melt, misdealt, pelt, Scheldt, smelt, spelt, svelte, veld, welt
•fan belt • seat belt • lifebelt • sunbelt
•rust belt • Copperbelt • heartfelt
•underfelt • backveld • bushveld
•Roosevelt
•atilt, built, gilt, guilt, hilt, jilt, kilt, lilt, quilt, silt, spilt, stilt, tilt, upbuilt, wilt
•Vanderbilt • volte
•assault, Balt, exalt, fault, halt, malt, salt, smalt, vault
•cobalt • stringhalt • basalt
•somersault • polevault
•bolt, colt, dolt, holt, jolt, moult (US molt), poult, smolt, volt
•deadbolt • Humboldt • thunderbolt
•megavolt • spoilt • Iseult
•consult, cult, exult, indult, insult, penult, result, ult
•adult • occult • tumult • catapult
•difficult • Hasselt
|
|
|
Cite this article
"stilt." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "stilt." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-stilt.html "stilt." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-stilt.html |
|