Tilting

tilt ¹  (tlt)

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.

a. To aim or thrust (a lance) in a joust.

b. 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.

a. To fight with lances; joust.

b. To engage in a combat or struggle; fight: tilting at injustices.

n.

1. The act of tilting or the condition of being tilted.

2.

a. An inclination from the horizontal or vertical; a slant: adjusting the tilt of a writing table.

b. A sloping surface, as of the ground.

3.

a. A tendency to favor one side in a dispute: the court's tilt toward conservative rulings.

b. An implicit preference; a bias: "pitilessly illuminates the inaccuracies and tilts of the press" Nat Hentoff.

4.

a. A medieval sport in which two mounted knights with lances charged together and attempted to unhorse one another.

b. 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. See Regional Note at teeter-totter.

Idiom:

at full tilt Informal

At full speed: a tank moving at full tilt.

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

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tilter n.