hilt

Etymology

From Middle English hilt, hilte, from Old English hilt, hilte, from Proto-Germanic *heltą, *heltǭ, *heltō, *hiltijō, (whence also Old Norse hjalt, Old High German helza, Old Saxon helta), from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to strike, cut”) (see holt).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɪlt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪlt

Noun

hilt (plural hilts)

1. The handle of a sword, consisting of grip, guard, and pommel, designed to facilitate use of the blade and afford protection to the hand.
2. The base of the penis
   • 1749, John Cleland, “part 2”, in Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, London: G. Fenton, OCLC 13050889:

     he draws it again, and just wetting it with spittle, re-enters, and with ease sheath'd it now up to the hilt

Verb

hilt (third-person singular simple present hilts, present participle hilting, simple past and past participle hilted)

1. (transitive) To provide with a hilt.
   • 1973, Ugo Pericoli, 1815: the armies at Waterloo, page 78:

     Being lightly hilted, it was very heavy in the point and was useful only as an unscientific chopper, dangerous if it connected with a vital part of an adversary, ideal for cutting at defenceless infantry, but unsuitable for sabre to sabre action, especially against the French equivalent, a beautifully balanced weapon, which was so functional that it was still used by the French cavalry in 1918, while a copy was used by the Prussians in the war of 1870.

   • 1978, Martin Louis Alan Gompertz, Adventures in Sakaeland, page 68:

     She took a ray of light from the moon, the lamp which stands on her adorning table, and fashioned it into a bright dagger. She hilted it with the turquoise of the morning sky, with some of the stars in it for better grip, and gave it to Gulsera, whispering in her ear.

   • 2011, Dan Howard, Bronze Age Military Equipment, →ISBN, page 38:

     Reconstructions of Type A and Type B swords weigh less than 500g, even when hilted.

   • 2015, Daniel D. Hartzler, American Silver-Hilted, Revolutionary and Early Federal Swords, →ISBN:

     By 1810 Clark and Rogers were New Orleans silversmiths, but this study has not revealed any products that they hilted.

2. (sexual slang) using the hilt of a sword to penetrate a sexual orifice
   • 2009 "Hilting", Oglaf (comic)
3. (sexual metaphor) to insert a bodily extremity as far as it can go into a sexual orifice so that it is impeded by the wider base to which it is attached (finger until palm, penis until pelvis) like how a sword can be stabbed until the hilt
   • 2015 Kitsune page 41

     his fingers hilted inside

   • 2017 Hot Wife's Secret Sex Life page 25

     He hilted himself inside her.

Anagrams

• -lith, Lith., lith, lith-