tilt
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /tɪlt/
rhymes: -ɪlt
Forms: form: tilts
form: tilting
form: tilted
form: tilted
Etymology: From Middle English tilte, from Old English *tyltan, *tieltan (“to be unsteady”), related to the adjective tealt (“unsteady”), from Proto-West Germanic *talt, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *del-, *dul- (“to shake, hesitate”), see also Dutch touteren (“to tremble”), North Frisian talt, tolt (“unstable, shaky”). Cognate with Icelandic tölt (“an ambling pace”).
The nominal sense of "a joust" appears around 1510, presumably derived from the barrier which separated the combatants, which suggests connection with tilt "covering". The modern transitive meaning is from 1590; the intransitive use appears 1620.
The sense of gaming frustration is said to originate with pinball.
Senses: examples: text: Tilt the barrel to pour out its contents.
glosses: To slope or incline (something); to slant.
examples: text: For as the Trunk of the Body, is kept from tilting forvvard by the Muſcules of the Back: So, from falling backvvard, by theſe of the Belly.
ref: 1701, Nehemiah Grew, “Of the Use of Organized Bodies”, in Cosmologia Sacra: Or A Discourse of the Universe as It is the Creature and Kingdom of God. […], London: […] W[illiam] Rogers, S[amuel] Smith, and B[enjamin] Walford: […], →OCLC, 1st book, paragraph 18, page 27:
text: “Marge Gets A Job” opens with the foundation of the Simpson house tilting perilously to one side, making the family homestead look like the suburban equivalent of the Leaning Tower Of Pisa.
ref: 2012 May 20, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club:
glosses: To be at an angle.
examples: text: Auster and Aquilon with winged Steeds / All ſweating, tilt about the watery heauens, / With ſhiuering ſpeares enforcing thunderclaps, / And from their ſhields ſtrike flames of lightening
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:
text: He tilts / With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast.
ref: c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
text: But in this tournament can no man tilt, / Except the lady he loves best be there.
ref: 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 26:
text: Mr. Smith strongly tilts at Mr. McCarter's use of the adjective "unprepossessing" to describe the station buildings at Moniaive and elsewhere; [...].
ref: 1944 May and June, “Notes and News: Moniaive Branch Locomotive Power”, in Railway Magazine, page 182:
text: At Offham, in Kent, tilting at the quintain provides a climax to the day's revels.
ref: 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 263:
qualifier: jousting
glosses: To charge (at someone) with a lance.
examples: text: And he should tilt her?
ref: c. 1609–1622?, John Fletcher, “The Womans Prize: Or, The Tamer Tamed”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
text: I say I quarrel’d with you; / We did not tilt each other – that’s a blessing, – / Good gods! no innocent blood upon my head!
ref: a. 1822 (date written), John Keats, “[Tragedies.] Otho the Great: A Tragedy in Five Acts.”, in [Horace Elisha Scudder], editor, The Complete Poetical Works and Letters of John Keats, Cambridge edition, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], published 1899, →OCLC, Act V, scene v, page 189, column 1, lines 53–55:
glosses: To point or thrust a weapon at.
examples: text: Sons against fathers tilt the fatal lance.
ref: 1708, John Philips, Cyder:
glosses: To point or thrust (a weapon).
examples: text: to tilt steel in order to render it more ductile
glosses: To forge (something) with a tilt hammer.
qualifier: pinball
glosses: To intentionally let the ball fall down to the drain by disabling flippers and most targets, done as a punishment to the player when the machine is nudged too violently or frequently.
raw_tags: of a machine
examples: text: The D.F.S. industry is still inextricably tied up in those poker roots. Players talk about "tilting" because of "variance," especially when a "fish" puts in a "donkey" lineup that ends up going crazy. (In regular American English, this translates roughly to "I am really mad because some idiot punched in some random lineup that ended up catching every conceivable break and beating me.")
ref: 2016 January 6, Jay Caspian Kang, “How the Daily Fantasy Sports Industry Turns Fans Into Suckers”, in The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 May 2023:
text: Even the best players can tilt which can cause their performance to drop significantly. Players often tilt when they're on a losing spree or frustrated with the game.
ref: 2022 September 2, Gökhan Çakır, Harrison Thomas, “How to get better at VALORANT”, in Dot Esports, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2023:
text: This was yet another surprising momentum swing, with Nepomniachtchi seemingly having addressed his tendency to tilt after a loss, and with Ding crashing back down to Earth after having squared the ledger in the previous game. Is this a new Nepomniachtchi, capable of digging deep and avenging losses?
ref: 2023 April 19, Ben Tippett, “Haymakers Are Flying At The World Chess Championship”, in Defector, archived from the original on 05 Jun 2023:
topics: board-games
chess
games
video-games
glosses: To enter a state of frustration and worsened performance resulting from a series of losses.
examples: text: While self-checkout machines are often used alongside cashiers, labor unions say that tilting toward fully cashierless operations threatens the French way of life by encouraging American-style consumerism and automation, putting thousands of jobs at risk.
ref: 2019 December 26, Liz Alderman, “Self-Checkout in France Sets Off Battle Over a Day of Rest”, in The New York Times:
glosses: To modify one's approach.
Synonyms: slope
incline
slant
cock