🚪 A frame piece 🌳 Fence steps

stile

1 8.6

A small set of steps built into a fence or wall to climb over

noun
/staɪl/

: escalera

Mrs. Morel lay in bed, listening to the rain, the feet of the colliers from Minton, their voices, and the bang, bang of the gates as they went through the stile up the field.
stile over a wall

Examples

The children eagerly jumped over the stile as they entered the meadow.
I see the narrow stile with stone steps, and I see.

Academic text (1992)
And he was heading out of the trees again for the stile.

Fiction book (1990)
But as Joshua reached the fence and located the wall stile, there was no sign of either Will or Joseph.

Fiction book (1990)
On this visit, he accompanied me only to the first stile and dry wall at the edge of Acton.

Academic text (1991)
Without waiting for an answer, he slipped through the stile and started across the narrow width of an alfalfa field.

Fiction book (1990)
We climbed over the stile to continue our hike through the countryside.
He paused at the stile, checking to ensure the sheep had not escaped through the fence.

Synonyms

steps

vsstile

1.0

A set of stairs outside a building

is built to let people cross fences or walls instead of raising levels

échelle

vsstile

9.9

A set of steps you use to climb up or down

is fixed to allow passing over fences rather than vertical ascent

Idioms

to help a lame dog over a stile

Informal

9.9

To do something kind for a person in trouble

Compounds

Essex stile

9.9

A bold, showy way of dressing with bright clothes and big hair

Surface Forms

stile singular

stiles plural

Etymology

Stile for the set of steps to climb over a fence comes from an old word meaning 'ladder' or 'to climb', so imagine a small set of steps or a tiny stair that helps you get over a wall. That's why a stile is made so people can cross fences or walls.