kilt
Dialect past tense of kill.
Also called killed.
Updated September 24, 2026
kilt pronunciation
/KILT/
Meaning
Kilt means killed in Southern and Appalachian speech. You hear it for animals, people, plants, and close calls: frost kilt the tomatoes, or I nearly got kilt. Same idea shows up in kilt lettuce, spring greens wilted under hot bacon grease. It is not a mistake. It is an older past form that stuck in mountain mouths.
How folks use it
- “That frost kilt half the garden overnight.”
- “I thought I was kilt when that tree limb come down.”
Origin and etymology
Older English past forms of kill included spellings like kilt. The form survived in Appalachia and the wider South after standard English settled on killed. Dialect notes record it in Kentucky by 1890, and mountain cooking kept it famous in kilt lettuce.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the Scottish skirt?
No. Same spelling, different word. Here kilt is the past tense of kill.