tiptoe
[tip-toh]
- the tip or end of a toe.
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- to move or go on tiptoe, as with caution or stealth: She tiptoed out of the room.
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- characterized by standing or walking on tiptoe.
- straining upward.
- eagerly expectant.
- cautious; stealthy.
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- eagerly or cautiously; on tiptoe.
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- on tiptoe,
- on the tips of one's toes.
- expectant; eager: With Christmas coming, the children were on tiptoe.
- stealthily; cautiously: The concert had already begun, so he entered the back of the hall on tiptoe.
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Origin of tiptoe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tiptoe
Contemporary Examples
A couple of ladies, standing on tiptoe, are scribbling over it with eyeliner and lipstick.
The Stacks: The Neville Brothers Stake Their Claim as Bards of the BayouJohn Ed Bradley
April 27, 2014
If Romney tries to run or tiptoe away, he will trip over his own flip-flops.
Romney, on account of his wealthy personal life, has to tiptoe around policies that redistribute wealth upward.
The establishment has to tiptoe around her and handle her delicately.
You must tell George that he must walk on tiptoe and not speak—otherwise he will die someday.
Historical Examples
She had to go on tiptoe through the shrubbery and out through the church yard.
The Incomplete AmoristE. Nesbit
The responsible man, with a start, obeyed, and went out on tiptoe.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
I forgot all my tatters and stood on tiptoe in the stirrups to overpeer the fence-row.
The CavalierGeorge Washington Cable
There was somebody approaching her room—evidently on tiptoe.
The Coryston FamilyMrs. Humphry Ward
The journalist stood on tiptoe, for as yet he did not understand.
tiptoe
- to walk with the heels off the ground and the weight supported by the ball of the foot and the toes
- to walk silently or stealthily
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- on tiptoe
- on the tips of the toes or on the ball of the foot and the toes
- eagerly anticipating something
- stealthily or silently
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- on tiptoe
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- walking or standing on tiptoe
- stealthy or silent
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for tiptoe
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with tiptoe
tiptoe
see on tiptoe.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.