把東西架離地面的長桿
這一組就是核心畫面本身：一根硬桿子，把上面的東西抬高。差別只在被抬起來的是人，還是一整棟建築。
noun · B2
One of two long poles, each with a small step partway up for your foot, that you stand on so you can walk high above the ground.
高蹺
核心畫面
One way to hold this word: a stiff, slim pole standing upright, lifting something clear of the ground so that open space is left underneath. Put two of them under a person and the person walks high above the street. Put six of them under a house and the house sits above the river. The pole itself never changes — only what is resting on top of it.
stilt 的核心畫面可以想成：一根又硬又細的長桿，直直站著，把上面的東西整個抬離地面，底下留出空空的一段。兩根放在…更多收起
stilt 的核心畫面可以想成：一根又硬又細的長桿，直直站著，把上面的東西整個抬離地面，底下留出空空的一段。兩根放在人腳下，人就高過街上的招牌；六根放在房子底下，房子就浮在河水之上。桿子本身沒有變，變的只是「上面撐著什麼」。這個「架高、底下留空」的畫面，正好也解釋了為什麼一種長腿水鳥會被叫成 stilt。From the word’s history
Middle English stilte, from a Germanic root meaning 'to be stiff'; related to Danish stylte, Dutch stelt, German Stelze. The oldest idea in the word is a stiff upright pole.
字典把 stilt 追到中古英語 stilte，再往前是原始日耳曼語表示「硬、僵直」的字根，同源的還有丹麥文 stylte、荷蘭文 stelt、德文 Stelze。也就是說，這個字最早講的就是「一根硬挺的直桿」，今天各種用法都還帶著那個影子。
Wiktionary 'stilt' etymology (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1040518063:37390), supplied in this packet
Two branches
長腿的涉禽
這一支是「用畫面取名」而不是新的字義：這種水鳥的腿細得誇張，走在淺水裡就像踩著兩根桿子，人乾脆把桿子的名字送給牠。這是相似而來的命名，不是另一條歷史來源。
noun · C1
A wading bird with very long, thin legs and a long thin bill, which walks about in shallow water looking for food. Stilts are close relatives of the avocet.
高蹺鴴
原始詞典資料7 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
stiltnoun/stɪlt/
- 1
Either of two poles with footrests that allow someone to stand or walk above the ground; used mostly by entertainers.
- 2
A tall pillar or post used to support some structure; often above water.
- 3
Any of various wading birds of the genera Himantopus and Cladorhynchus, related to the avocet, that have extremely long legs and long thin bills.
- 4
A crutch.
- 5
The handle of a plough.
- He[…]shot MacLaren when between the stilts of his plough,[…]
stiltverb/stɪlt/
- 1
to raise on stilts, or as if on stilts
- 2
to apply unnecessary pomp or formality
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。