Definition of "stilt" []

• Either of a pair of long, slender poles each equipped with a raised footrest to enable the user to walk elevated above the ground. (noun)
• Any of various tall posts or pillars used as support, as for a dock or building: a beach house on stilts. (noun)
• An American wading bird (Himantopus mexicanus) that has long pink legs, black and white plumage, and a long slender bill, and that ranges from the United States to Peru and Brazil and is related to the avocet. (noun)
• A related bird (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) of Australia. (noun)
• To place or raise on stilts. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The veined octopus under study manages a behavioral trick that the researchers call stilt walking."
• "The veined octopus under study manages a behavioural trick that the researchers call stilt walking."
• "It was an odd creature perched upon stilts; one of those persons called the stilt-walkers."