DCHP-1 Online

tilt

• 1a n. Esp. Lab a temporary shelter of canvas, sealskins, etc.; tent.

  • 1753  (1768)  [Entering the Harbour they saw Shallops built after the Newfoundland Manner, at Anchor, with Buoys and Cables, a Mast, a square Yard athwart, with a Sail bent, a tilt made of seal Skins abaft.]
  • 1771  (1911)  [I made] a tilt with some seal skins which I borrowed. . . .
  • 1891  On every square rod of flat rock on the steep sides of the harbor was a Newfoundlander's "tilt" or summer house.
  • 1907  When the black bear enters a tilt or wigwam, it opens and scatters everything within, whilst it has a curious habit of never departing by the way of entry, preferring to scrape a hole in the side of the shelter by way of exit.
  • 1942  Some had canvas tilts, and in these were the regiment's women and children, a mixed lot like the men.

• 1b n. West, Hist. the canvas covering of a prairie schooner.

  See also: tilted wagon  

  • 1859  (1870)  We set out in a . . . waggon and four . . . a stout canvas tilt and curtains protecting us around and overhead.
  • 1943  Mrs. Fraser was still in the wagon . . . craning from the hooped open front of the tilt to see him. . . .

• 2a n. Esp. Lab a log hut or cabin used by fishermen or trappers and characterized by a sloping roof that overhangs the door. [See picture at tilt.]

  See also: tilt-back  

  • 1770  (1792)  In our return we found two old furriers' tilts, and snow death-falls; which appeared to be of Canadian construction.
  • 1958  In a fisherman's "tilt" or hut, McKay's observant eye noticed a piece of bright yellow stone on the mantelshelf.
  • 1966  The tilt was a trapper's winter quarters and the slanted gable was a protection against heavy snowfall, helping prevent the entrance becoming snowbound.

• 2b n. any simple dwelling, especially one made of wood.

  • 1842  [He] killed a cow at Broad Cove Gastors, with several sheep, goats, and fowls, having been repeatedly seen by the poor people, from the doors of their tilts, in the woods. . . .
  • 1849  The planters, as they are designated, live in houses which they call "tilts," varying in shape and size according to the circumstances of the owner.
  • 1905  They live in little "tilts"--log huts of one large square room, with 'bunks' at each end for the women-folk, and a 'cockloft' above for the men and lads.