gait

[ geyt ]

noun

1. a manner of walking, stepping, or running.

   Synonyms: carriage, bearing, stride, step, walk

2. any of the manners in which a horse moves, as a walk, trot, canter, gallop, or rack.

verb (used with object)

1. to teach a specified gait or gaits to (a horse).

gait

/ ɡeɪt /

noun

1. manner of walking or running; bearing
2. (used esp of horses and dogs) the pattern of footsteps at various speeds, as the walk, trot, canter, etc, each pattern being distinguished by a particular rhythm and footfall

verb

1. tr to teach (a horse) a particular gait

Word History and Origins

Origin of gait¹

1500–10; Scots, Middle English spelling variant of gate ¹ in various senses

Word History and Origins

Origin of gait¹

C16: variant of gate ¹

Example Sentences

Instead, the poles seem to enable people to adopt a more normal walking gait, with longer and quicker strides, particularly while carrying a pack or climbing a hill.

From Outside Online

That gait assistance is also why poles are helpful for people with Parkinson’s and other movement disorders.

From Outside Online

The person’s gait is uneven, as if they were carrying a load on their left hip.

From Ars Technica

They look terrible compared to their smooth-striding rivals—but imagine how much better they could have been with more efficient gaits.

From Outside Online

There may not be a database of gaits and heartbeats yet, but the technology is here.

From Singularity Hub 

The research on gait may also be used to make robots move in a more natural way.

From The Daily Beast

“Animals with sloping backs have huge reserves of stamina, because it is a very economic gait,” said Jean.

From The Daily Beast

They are the ultimate Vatican insiders, able to identify cardinals by their gait alone.

From The Daily Beast

Bicycles don't break their legs, they don't need to be fed, and on a modern road, their gait is a lot smoother.

From The Daily Beast

Those in white and walking with a contemplative gait evoked innocence.

From The Daily Beast

Poindexter ordered his men to fall in, and they followed Porter, but at a more leisurely gait.

From Project Gutenberg

She liked the rapid gait at which they spun along, and the quick, sharp sound of the horses' hoofs on the hard road.

From Project Gutenberg

Bascomb spurred his tired horse cruelly, and they got past Hot Springs at a fairly good gait.

From Project Gutenberg

Bascomb fell silent again, and for a mile or more he kept up his steady, swinging gait.

From Project Gutenberg

The other species have a tendency in the same direction, the legs being bowed and the gait rolling.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bearing

More About Gait

What does gait mean?

Gait means the way a person or animal walks or runs.

Gait is often used in the context of horses and show dogs when analyzing how they walk, trot, and run. The human gait is studied in medicine and in sports like running. Gait can also be used as a verb meaning to teach a horse a particular gait.

Example: You can tell that his gait is affected by a limp.

Where does gait come from?

The first records of gait in English come from the early 1500s. It comes from Scots, which is English as spoken in Scotland. Gait is a spelling variant of gate, which in Scotland can be used to mean “a path” or “a way of behaving.”

Horses don’t just walk and run. They trot, canter, gallop, and move in a way called a rack (which means they move the legs on one side of their body and then the other). Each of these is a different gait. At dog shows, dogs are judged on their gait, which depending on the breed is often a kind of regal prancing.

You have a gait, and it’s different from everyone else’s. In fact, the field of biometrics is developing ways to measure a person’s gait as a unique identifier, like a fingerprint. In medicine, an unsteady or wide gait can be a marker of a neurological condition. Patients who’ve had a procedure like a hip replacement may need therapy to return their gait to normal. Competitive runners often work to make sure they don’t use an improper gait, which can lead to painful conditions.

Did you know ... ?

What are some synonyms for gait?

• stride
• bearing
• carriage

What are some words that share a root or word element with gait? 

 

• gate

 

What are some words that often get used in discussing gait?

 

• step
• foot
• leg
• horse
• dog
• injury
• mobility

What are some words gait may be commonly confused with?

• gate

How is gait used in real life?

Gait is commonly used in the analysis of how horses and dogs walk and run. Humans’ gait is important to the sport of running as well as in some medical contexts.

Today in 1878, Eadweard Muybridge took photos analyzing a horse's galloping gait. Foundation of motion pictures. pic.twitter.com/ykbrSuHEI6

— Charles Bergquist (@cbquist) June 15, 2015

When your stride is so bad it's painful. A look at how a runner's gait can cause injury: http://t.co/2O7Iv61lzx pic.twitter.com/XUr9vuUAEC

— Stefanie Ilgenfritz (@stefaniei) September 23, 2014

Thanks for coming to my stream! I sketched my characters running.
I enjoy how different gaits can give so much context to characters pic.twitter.com/tjeD6vJHHo

— Juby 쥬비 🎻(･ิω･ิ ) (@CutTimeComic) October 3, 2017

 

 

Try using gait!

Is gait used correctly in the following sentence? 

Make sure you don’t have too wide of a gait when running—you may hurt your knee.