on tiptoe

Idioms  

1. Eagerly anticipating something, as in The children were on tiptoe before the birthday party . [Late 1500s]

2. Moving stealthily, warily, as in They went down the hall on tiptoe . [Mid-1700s] Both usages transfer standing on one's toes to a particular reason for doing so; def. 2 alludes to moving more quietly in this fashion.

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Example Sentences

Eight-year-old Willow Lopez stood on tiptoe, her chin hooked over the 4-foot steel fence and her heart doing atomic drops as the aging wrestler climbed into the ring at the Sonoma County Fair.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 29, 2023

But if visitors stand on tiptoe to look past the marvelous fresco over the home’s jagged walls, they’ll see how the back rooms remain embedded under the newly “stabilized” unexcavated edge of Pompeii.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 20, 2022

The mother robin, who flies off with an angry twitter when my husband stands on tiptoe to peek into the nest, has shuffled the arrangement of the eggs.

From Salon • May 9, 2020

Cochrane’s joyful figure, which captures Solis on tiptoe, arms raised and back arched, is the perfect icon for the #MeToo moment.

From Washington Post • Mar. 28, 2018

He leaned in close, stretching on tiptoe like he was looking up Mr. Griswold’s nose.

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman