hield means to bend; incline; tilt (as a water-vessel or ship); heel. It carries an Arena rating of 1603, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, hield ranks #762 of 13,217 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,334 of 13,217 for Most Malleable Words, #2,104 of 13,217 for Most Whimsical Words, #2,129 of 13,217 for Scariest Words.
Why “hield” is a great word
To incline, tilt, or pour out. From Middle English heelden, helden, from Old English hieldan, heldan ("to lean, incline"), from Proto-West Germanic *halþijan, from Proto-Germanic *halþijaną ("to bend, incline, pour"), from Proto-Indo-European *kel- ("to tilt, tip, incline"). Unlike "heel" (which suggests a fixed, structural list) or "pour" (which focuses on the flow of a liquid), to hield is the transitive act of causing something to lean from its axis. It is the deliberate cant of a water jug over a basin, the slow, groaning list of a barn under a century of snow, the yielding surrender of a body into a lover's arms—a quiet testament to the gravity that pulls all things from their upright state toward the earth.
Etymology
From Middle English heelden, helden, from Old English hieldan, heldan (“to lean, incline, slope, force downwards, bow or bend down”), from Proto-West Germanic *halþijan, from Proto-Germanic *halþijaną (“to bend, incline, pour, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to tilt, tip, incline”).
Cognate with Dutch hellen (“to incline”), Low German hellen (“to incline”), Middle High German helden (“to incline”), Danish hælde (“to tilt, lean, slant, slope”), Swedish hälla (“to tilt, pour”), Icelandic halla (“incline, lean sideways, heel over”), Icelandic hella (“to pur”). See also heel.
verb
- To bend; incline; tilt (as a water-vessel or ship); heel.
- To pour out; pour.
- To throw; cast; put.
- To bow; bend; incline; tilt or cant over.
- To decline; sink; go down.
- To yield; give way; surrender.
noun
- An inclination; a cant.
- An incline; slope.
- A decline; decrease; wane.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.