# tilt

> English word · Verb · IPA /tɪlt/ · frequency rank #11,988

## Definitions
1. To slope or incline (something); to slant.
2. To be at an angle.
3. To charge (at someone) with a lance.
4. To point or thrust a weapon at.
5. To point or thrust (a weapon).
6. To forge (something) with a tilt hammer.
7. 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.
8. To enter a state of frustration and worsened performance resulting from a series of losses.
9. To modify one's approach.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **TL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tl)
- **TT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tt)
- **tip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tip)
- **Tim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tim)
- **tin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tin)
- **tit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tit)
- **TNT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tnt)
- **TLC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tlc)
- **tot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tot)
- **tut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tut)
- **tol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tol)
- **tio** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tio)
- **time** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-time)
- **told** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-told)
- **tiny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tiny)
- **tips** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tips)
- **toll** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-toll)
- **tire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tire)
- **tits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tits)
- **Tina** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-tina)

## Common misspellings (6)
`itlt`, `tillt`, `tiltt`, `titl`, `tlit`, `ttilt`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tilt